The writer Anthony Burgess once offered the suggestion that musical literacy is as importance as literacy proper. And it’s hard to argue the point.

Consider: We are surrounded by music almost every waking moment of our lives. We are bombarded with music from every direction, and what’s more, we seek it out. Music nutures us like food. It inspires us, incites us, comforts us, and yet most of us don’t understand it at all. Most of us don’t know how to produce it, how it is made, how to read it, how to make our own music — this, one of the most important aspects of the human condition, generated in our brains and in our souls.

Music is no longer the elite stuff of luxury; it is practically a human right.

Therefore, let us take this opportunity to thank those music teachers in our region, whether in the school system or the private teachers, like those of the East Kootenay Music Teachers Association, the choir directors, and all others who understand this fundamentally.

As demonstrated by the mass choir which performed two songs by local educators Larry Dureski and Kim Lutz, Friday night at the Cranbrook Torch Celebration, our community is into the importance of music — and the way the students buy into this message shows a depth of talent of which we should all be aware.

The majority of humanity is said to be musically illiterate, but in the Cranbrook and Kimberley area we are breaking that mold.