Huntington Harbour Philharmonic Committee hosts an annual Holiday Boutique to help more than 160,000 first grade through high school students gain exposure to music. Donating his time, Pianist Danny Barrios (pictured) said, "I'm troubled by all the cutbacks in music and the arts in our schools."

Only 23% of the California's 6.3 million students receive education in the arts, even though state laws mandate the Visual and Performing Arts be included in the school curriculum for all students in grades one to six and grades seven through 12. Districts are empowered to police themselves, but there is no enforcement authority to ensure that happens. Do children need art and music in school, anyway? According to Professor James S. Catterall, UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies:

• Keyboard and vocal lessons have been shown to contribute to measured intelligence in 6- to 7-year-olds.
• One study identifies a strong relationship between sustained involvement in instrumental music across middle and high school and high level math proficiency in grade 12, particularly for students from the lowest income families.