The power of art and performance

For me, this TED talk by Benjamin Zander really speaks to the power of performance.  Very much worth the 20 minutes if you can spare it.

Lives are improved by music, by stage performance, by art.  There is a huge gap between the value of these things, and the importance they are given in our culture.  We suffer from this, and we will continue to suffer from it until we get it right.  Perhaps the absence of this kind of culture is enough of a disadvantage that some other culture will take us over before we have a chance to fix it!  I'm OK with that - either way, truth and beauty and passion win in the end.