I've enjoyed reading the many responses. I was intrigued by Pat's post describling Bard College and their double-degree requirement. Having a couple performance degrees myself, I always found my elective requirements to be a real joke. Most times the discussion about audience cultivation centers on, "How can we bring them to us?" Efforts like the program at Bard seek to develop and cultivate musicians with a wide angle view of the world and how art can serve it. I think there will always be a market for the rare artist who can engage with his/her culture on its own terms while maintaining integrity to one's own self. This might be a more abstract suggestion than attending a school board meeting and fighting for your music program, but both are vital to the future.
Just to clarify- I do not own a copy of Disney's Mulan, nor any other Disney film for that matter. I'm not suggesting in any way that US orchestras should all add it to their seasons.
I am saying that we should make an effort to use the familiar to bridge it to the unfamiliar for students. All of us would agree that Ein Heldenleben is a better piece of music than Lion King. (I hope) Could you explain to a group of students why? Would they be convinced? It can be hard to articulate something like this because we think it should be intuitive, but to 5th graders it's not. Just a thought.
Carl