WCPE Education Fund
"We do this because we have something we want to give back to the community. The grant from the WCPE Education Fund will allow us to afford new venues, buy new scores, and play new music."
Wake Forest, N.C. (PRWEB) June 23, 2015
WCPE FM, The Classical Station, announces five grants totaling more than $8,000 from its WCPE Education Fund for the 2015–16 season. Recipients include North Carolina Chamber Music Ensemble, Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra, Community Music School, Chamber Music Raleigh, and Raleigh Concert Band. These grants are made possible through the WCPE Education Fund, which is committed to increasing classical music education throughout the local community in North Carolina.
“I am deeply touched by the support we’ve received from our donors,” said WCPE’s Tara Lynn. “We are sending a clear message the value we place upon music education, and the importance of building a stable future for the arts in North Carolina.”
Funding for Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra, a strings program now entering its second year, will provide printed music, new instruments, and tuition assistance to students from low-income families and families experiencing financial hardship. LaSaundra Booth, executive director, thanked WCPE “for giving us the platform to not only have summer camp but also to buy two new cellos, one of which will be played by a four year old student eager to learn. Two more children were given scholarships thanks to WCPE, so I cannot thank you enough. It is a blessing.”
North Carolina Chamber Music Institute (NCCMI) connects student musicians with top musical coaches in the area. Each student participates in a quartet or quintet, performing several times throughout the year in recitals and outreach concerts. A chamber ensemble will be named in honor of WCPE for the 2015–16 season. Elizabeth Beilman, executive director, told WCPE that the NCCMI is “an ensemble of young people who are advanced for their age. They will be performing in the community in places such as schools to share great classical music and give back to the community.”
The Community Music School provides weekly music lessons at the price of one dollar per lesson to children from low-income families. A grant from the WCPE Education Fund in the 2015–16 season will allow the school to provide high-quality music education to more students at this affordable rate.
Formerly known as the Raleigh Chamber Music Guild, Chamber Music Raleigh will add outreach concerts to its programming in the 2015/–16 season, making use of its resident ensemble, Oak City String Quartet, which comprises members of the North Carolina Symphony. A grant from the WCPE Education Fund will support family concerts at various Wake County public library branches targeting young families. Oak City String Quartet will also work with students at Community Music School several times on Saturday mornings this season. Marianne Breneman, the executive director of Chamber Music Raleigh, said, “We changed the name of the Raleigh Chamber Music Guild to Community Music Raleigh to better represent our mission and what we do. After 73 years as the Raleigh Chamber Music Guild, the word “guild” seemed to be dated and implies a private club. This organization is anything but that…it is more inclusive than ever because the music is for everyone. This grant from WCPE also helps us reach a larger audience by offering young people under the age of 18 a free ticket when they come with an adult. Community Music Raleigh also provides free tickets to places students involved in organizations like KidzNotes. Discounted ticket prices for people 40 and under encourage more people to attend.”
A grant to Raleigh Concert Band, a recreational and educational adult ensemble, will purchase music provide funding for concert venues in the 2015–16 season. Barbara Prillaman, executive director, said, “We do this because we have something we want to give back to the community. The grant from the WCPE Education Fund will allow us to afford new venues, buy new scores, and play new music. We say that we play more than just Sousa, and we will continue to explore different genres including transcriptions of classical music.”
About: WCPE Education Fund grants come from tax-deductible gifts made to WCPE FM. WCPE donors of fifty or more dollars per year may elect to restrict ten percent of their contribution for local musical education programs and outreach. Grants are awarded annually following the April 31 deadline. The WCPE Education Fund has invested over thirty-eight thousand dollars in North Carolina music education through a wide variety of nonprofit organizations since it was founded by WCPE Arts & Community Liaison, Tara Lynn, in 2010.