When Mike Greensill accompanied wife Wesla Whitfield through a medley of Gershwin songs as they closed Music in Schools Today (MuST)'s "Stars on Staff" celebrity waiter benefit luncheon in 1998, he mentioned that they would like to help MuST.

So, when the San Francisco Unified School District announced its intention to slash the Elementary Arts Education program from the budget in 1999, MuST asked Mike and Wesla to join other concerned members of the community at the Board of Education meeting. Mike and Wesla came -- and stayed to testify after 4:00 a.m. Says Mike: "It was really trial by fire ... democracy run amok. We were so incensed that we wanted to get involved in a deeper way by lending our hands in whatever way we could."

Wesla adds, "I was proud to be a part of that. What music did for me in school included teaching me problem solving skills and critical thinking and most of all, it taught me discipline. I got a clear understanding of how my efforts contributed to my success in that the more I participated in learning, the better I played. It isn't magic. It's hard work."

Wesla was born in Santa Maria, California, the youngest of three girls. She "knew at age two and a half that I would grow up to be a singer," started taking piano lessons at age seven and studied voice at age 14. She discovered her mother's extensive sheet music collection at an early age and used it to sight-read.

Mike is a graduate of Leeds College of Music in England and performed in Europe and the Far East before coming to the States. He is a skilled arranger and orchestrator from small combos to symphony orchestras.

Mike has a peculiarly English fondness for teddy bears and takes teddy Alec Wilder on their gigs. Wesla sews bear clothes and crochets sweaters for Alec, who has played Carnegie Hall many times and has appeared at the White House.

Wesla and Mike are frequent performers in San Francisco, at the York Hotel's Plush Room. And should your travels take you to New York City or Kansas City or Omaha, you can sometimes find the jazzy duo moving patrons to tears and laughter with their unique combination of classicism, irony and sweetness, with just a little raciness blended in. Wherever they go, they are now staunch speakers of the need for music and arts education for children everywhere!