Abstract This paper, which was presented on July 2nd 2010 at the Dostrovsky Forum for Music Education, at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, tries to discuss the differences between excellence and professionalism while also attempting to reframe the goals of the projects run by the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance in the peripheries of Israel. (These projects won the Israeli Council of Higher Education Award for community involvement in 2009 and in 2011). At the same time, the paper also attempts to make a connection between the theories of Abraham Maslow and a festival of young rock groups in the south of Israel. Excellence in the Age of Ratings Michael Klinghoffer It all starte
I was on my way from Logan Airport to New Hampshire. The weather was foggy and driving seemed difficult. Luckily enough I was sitting in the back of one of those vans that drive you from the airport to various places. I was half asleep and it seemed as though the fog slowly started to enter my mind. I can't remember if it was the fog outside that I saw or the picture of it in my mind. Next thing I remember is the fog slowly clearing and the details of some Russian song I had to play soon were all there. All the problems I was thinking about were solved right there without me doing anything. As Albert Einstein once said, “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the
