Statement of Understating

The following statement of understanding was written by composer Warren Benson and adopted by the WASBE Council in 1990. It expresses the underlying philosophy upon which all WASBE activities are based.

• We recognize that we are in an inclusive organization and that this defines our uniqueness.
• We recognize that by working together we may find the means to strengthen our input into the cultural life of our citizens.
• We recognize that individual differences: national identity, cultural inheritance, age, artistic taste, and amateur or professional experience are elements which enrich and illuminate our sound-time community in this greater, broader, endless search.
• We recognize that we need to respect one another, learn from one another, help one another.
• We recognize that we are an open, tolerant, patient yet evolving, maturing organization; that growth is life, and that we may both change and be changed by our active participation.
• We recognize that the individual member is both the source and the beneficiary of our strength and our finest emissary, serving with each of us the higher interest of our art.
• We recognize that not only coming together by staying together provides the richer harmony and the stronger counter point which bring life’s breath and vigor to our wholeness.
• We recognize that we revere open communication, the most thorough education, and the widest dissemination only as they serve the highest artistic qualities we now hold dear and those we may yet come to know.
• We recognize that we must honor our great tradition while we advance the art.

Warren Benson, December, 1990