1920s: As a child, McCullers practices playing the piano for five hours a day. After a severe illness and an emotional parting with her mentor, she gives up music and turns to a career in writing

1996: The darker side of child prodigy is portrayed in Shine, a film based on the true story of David Helfgott, an Australian prodigy who suffered a career-halting psychotic episode as a teenager, but returned to playing several years later.

1930s: President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal sets $5 million of federal funds aside for art and music projects. The Federal Music Project sponsors many musicians, orchestras, and theaters in an effort to encourage further development of American culture and to provide jobs during the Great Depression.

1990s: The National Endowment for the Arts, a federal program which provides grants and assistance to musicians and other artists, is threatened by...