American music educators in the 1990s were confronted with several challenges: quickly advancing technology, reductions in support for arts in schools, and increased commitment to large-scale assessments by policy makers. Add to that several curriculum changes, especially a movement toward the individualization of classroom planning, expanding multicultural music content, and the need for local and national advocacy. This article comments on trends such as these from the perspective of the MENC's "Vision 2020" project. The author, a music education historian and critic, and one of the seven "Vision 2020" commission authors, reveals his perspective on these matters and identifies three overarching themes in the "Vision 2020" publication: (1) placing music in personal and social life rather than as an abstraction from life, (2) justifying music's place in the school program on social and personal grounds, and (3) reestablishing an intimate connection between music in the school and music in everyday life.