KTBA Weekly Donation Archives - Page 8 of 17

KTBA Weekly Donation

Ukuleles donated to Elementary School – Keeping the Blues Alive

DOTW – Ukuleles donated to Elementary School Ms. Baker Burr in Kuna, ID Kuna, ID – Thanks to your donations, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation donated two, 10piece Ukulele Classroom packs to the elementary music program at Reed Elementary School! The town of Kuna, ID has something to boast about! With a population of 19,000, you can barely walk to a place where someone doesn’t know your name. This week, the faculty will have something fresh to talk about as 20 new ukuleles prepare to arrive! “My students are wonderful small town kids,” Ms. Baker Burr explains. Ms. Baker is the music instructor at Reed Elementary School. “We have cultivated a love of the arts here at our school. We are also a dual language school; We teach Spanish as well as English in many different capacities.” Reed, a Title I school near Boise, is composed of a diverse population of migrant families. These families are of many different nationalities, including Iranian, Mexican, Spanish, Bosnian, and Chinese to name a few. In an effort to celebrate the vast and rich cultures of the student population, The school celebrates different cultures in music, through holidays and with a yearly school carnival! “Our elementary school is a wonderful community full of students from all over the world. Adding ukuleles to our music program would allow students from all socio-economic backgrounds to learn an instrument that is affordable, portable, and easy to learn!” she explains. These instruments would allow for solo and ensemble learning and performing opportunities. They are also fitting for our school’s differing age groups.” Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, Inc., Wow…it’s Christmas in November! Thank you so much for funding our ukuleles! I am so excited to spend the time, between now and when they arrive, lesson planning to make the most of this amazing new experience for my kids. This will mean an economical music experience that is portable for all my students, but especially for my low income students to learn an instrument for life! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!! With gratitude, Ms. Baker Burr Every week, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation makes a donation to a school in need of music instruments, supplies, sheet music, and more! Your donation helps us to keep music in schools, while preserving blues heritage. If you would like to help us fund next week’s project, click here to make a donation! All donations are tax-deductible! Thank you for keeping music education in schools! Shawn Hagood for Keeping the Blues Alive

December 20, 2018

Keeping the Blues Alive Donates Xylophones to Middle School Music Program

KTBA Donates 16 Orff xylophones to Middle School Music Program Mrs. Angela Kadow Parma Community Middle School PARMA, OH – Thanks to your donations, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation donated sixteen (16) brand new Orff xylophones to the music program at Parma Community Middle School! Parma Community Middle is a Constellation School that teaches students of all grade levels from Kindergarten through the 12th grade. The middle school takes on the 7th and 8th graders and boast class sizes of no more than 22 students per classroom. The charter programs are designed to provide parents with greater flexibility to choose where their children learn. They often have more flexibility on what curriculum the students are exposed to, including music programs at varying grade levels. “My students at our middle school are a part of a network of charter schools called CSchools,” Angela Kadow explains. Angela teaches music at Parma Community Middle. “CSchools serve the greater Cleveland, Ohio area. My students are a diverse group, in both the 7th and 8th grades. They span many cultures and learning preferences. They appreciate hands-on learning. When my students are actively participating in music, they learn what rhythms and melodies look like, sound like and feel like.” Students that study music at that grade level receive one music lesson per week. When they arrive, their checklist is full, as there is only so much time to completely absorb themselves into the lessons and build upon the lessons from the week before. Therefore, it is imperative to have enough instruments for the classroom so that all student get an opportunity to practice and perform on an instrument during the allotted time period. This increases overall productivity of the individual student as well as the success of the classroom as a whole. Mrs. Kadow documents the weekly progress of the students, but recognizes that adding more instruments to the inventory will boost productivity and further validate the program’s overall success. “The bigger xylophones from Lyons will allow the students to have experience playing in an ensemble setting, or playing with different instruments,” Angela explains. “Playing in an ensemble teaches musicians to listen to each other and allows the students to experience first-hand what harmonies sound like. The students will play music by numerous famous composers such as Mozart. They will also compose their own music. Students will write original fables and compose musical themes to accompany each of their characters.” Thanks to the mobility of the instruments and the class sizes, students can be paired up with each other to create different ensembles and therefore encourages camaraderie and socialization among their peers. Additionally, many different ensembles will take shape for various holiday concerts and public performances. Thanks to the generosity of Joe Bonamassa fans and music lovers like you, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation was able to donate these instruments to Mrs. Kadow’s music program. Now, every child will have an opportunity to get hands-on learning time with the instruments and provide a greater and wholesome learning experience from week to week. Every week, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation makes a donation to a school in need of music instruments, supplies, sheet music, and more! Your donation helps us to keep music in schools, while preserving blues heritage. If you would like to help us fund next week’s project, click here to make a donation! All donations are fully tax-deductible! Thank you for keeping music education in schools! Shawn Hagood for Keeping the Blues Alive

December 17, 2018

Keeping the Blues Alive Weekly Donation Story!

Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation Donates Euphonium to Middle School Band Program Mrs. Bolder – Union Prep Academy at Indian Trail INDIAN TRAIL, NC – Thanks to your donations, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation donated a brand new euphonium to students in the Union Prep Academy music program! Union Prep Academy is a tuition-free public charter school located 16 miles southeast of Charlotte, NC. The instruments requested are needed to expand the program without costing the school several thousand dollars. “They are very expensive and have to be purchased at full price,” Mrs. Bolder explains. “These instruments are not offered as rental instruments by music companies. They are too expensive for parents to purchase, unlike beginning band instruments. It is up to the school to purchase them. [However,] our school is a new charter school entering it’s third year and funding is low.” The large percussion and low wind instruments needed at Union Prep are the key to a full mature sounding symphonic band. “You see, beginning bands use only the basic 5 or 6 basic instruments; flute, clarinet, alto sax, trumpet, and trombone (sometimes snare drum and bells)” she explains. “Most parents can afford to rent the beginning band instruments. However, intermediate and advanced bands have a more mature sound because of the large percussion and large low wind instruments that are incorporated. Composers write music for/increase the number of instruments in their songs for more advanced bands. We want to build and have an outstanding competitive band program. But, we can’t attend MPA’s (statewide adjudicated or judged performances), and other music festivals without the low instruments that would give us the full symphonic band sound. The only large percussion and low wind instruments we have right now are a bass drum, one tuba, one euphonium, and on bass clarinet. To balance the band out we need at least two of each of the low instruments (including bari-sax, and tenor sax).” Enrollment is definitely growing, however more than a third of the students come from low income households. This means that many of the instruments needed for their particular orchestration are simply not available. In spite of budget setbacks, the students are resilient and dedicated. “My students are middle school band students who love playing their instruments!” Mrs. Bolder exclaims. “When they could have chosen to take other electives, they chose band. Some of them enjoy coming to school because of band. They listen intently because they love learning to play their instruments. What I [also] love about my students is that they seem so happy all the time and are eager to learn! They come into the band room smiling in the morning when they drop off their instruments, smiling when they come to class, and smiling when they come to pick up their instruments in the afternoon so they can practice at home. I love it when they ask, ‘What’s our playing test song for this week?’ You’d think that they would hope I’d forget about the playing tests! My one bass clarinet player is so peppy and calls her instrument (owned by the school) her baby.” Thanks to the generosity of Joe Bonamassa fans and music lovers like you, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation was able to donate a brand new euphonium to the symphonic band. Every week, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation makes a donation to a school in need of music instruments, supplies, sheet music, and more! Your donation helps us to keep music in schools, while preserving blues heritage. If you would like to help us fund next week’s project, click here to make a donation! All donations are fully tax-deductible! Thank you for keeping music education in schools! Shawn Hagood for Keeping the Blues Alive

December 10, 2018

Keeping The Blues Alive Donates Classroom Set of Ukuleles and Tuners

KTBA Donates Classroom Set of Ukuleles and Tuners Mrs. Kuhn: Warren Senior High School WARREN, AR – Thanks to your donations, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation donated a Classroom 10-unit ukulele package to students in the Warren Senior High School Music Program! “Nestled in rural South Arkansas, my middle school level general music classes are comprised of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders that meet in a standards based environment,” Mrs. Kuhn describes. “All eight of these classes are part of the STEM initiative and explore how Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math can team together to create an industry full of music in varying careers ranging from education to performing, composing, engineering and beyond.” STEM to STEAM programs have been growing since 2014. Studies show that true innovation not only requires specific scientific and mathematical prowess, but also creativity. STEM to STEAM programs allows students the opportunity to combine core subject matter with the arts in an effort to stimulate innovation in different fields. These programs and projects involve using circuitry, music composition, synthesizer building, aural research and so much more! “Hands-on application of musical knowledge will allow my middle school students to perform alone, in small ensembles, as classes, and as a large ensemble with their peers,” Mrs. Kuhn adds. “They will be able to combine science, technology, math, and reading comprehension into one larger task of learning the mechanics of, and how to play and care for a ukulele.” Mrs. Kuhn also says that the school maintains a successful chorus program with approximately 85 students, without needing to require extra-curricular rehearsals for ukulele students. The flexibility and freedom of following a ukulele curriculum helps to keep students engaged in and out of the classroom without having to staff after-school programs or additional elective courses. Thanks to the generosity of Joe Bonamassa fans and music lovers like you, Keeping the Blues Alive was able to donate ten (10) ukuleles and an equal amount of tuners for the new instruments. The instruments should arrive at the school over the upcoming week – in perfect timing to prepare for holiday repertoire and the giving season! Mrs. Kuhn expresses her gratitude: Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, Inc., We are so grateful for your generous donations that will allow my classroom to be able to learn to play an instrument without the stress of an after school program or rigor required for a performance-based class. Thank you so much for helping me connect music to math and science kinesthetically! With gratitude, Mrs. Kuhn Every week, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation makes a donation to a school in need of music instruments, supplies, sheet music, and more! Your donation helps us to keep music in schools, while preserving blues heritage. If you would like to help us fund next week’s project, click here to make a donation! All donations are fully tax-deductible! Thank you for keeping music education in schools! Shawn Hagood for Keeping the Blues Alive

December 5, 2018

Keeping the Blues Alive: KTBA Donates Two Suzuki Xylophones to Elementary School

KTBA DONATES TWO SUZUKI XYLOPHONES TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL South Otselic, NY – Thanks to your donations, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation donated two (2) Rosewood Suzuki Xylophones at Otselic Valley Central School! Otselic is a small town in Central New York boasting just over 1,000 residents. Named after the Otselic River that passes through it, the town is known for its farms and its history of settlers from the 19th Century. “Our school is located in rural Central New York,” Mr. Scott states as he describes the area. “It is a beautiful and secluded countryside full of farms, hills, and colors. To give you an idea of our size, we graduate around 23 students a year.” Be that as it may, the school maintains a successful chorus program with approximately 85 students. “All students in grades Pre-K through 6th grade received an hour of general music instruction every week. [The students] love to learn through playing and experiencing music and [they] love a good challenge! With new materials in the classroom, we could provide a new dimension to our music education, full of new and varied challenges. I try to have my students do four things in every music lesson: sing, play an instrument, move to music, and read music. These instruments will be a valuable tool towards reaching these goals.” Students in the percussion session must be skilled multi-taskers! Not only are they playing their instruments with the ensemble, they’re also responsible for keeping time for the orchestra, following the conductor, and efficiently flowing through the percussion section with grace. “These instruments will be the first step towards a Percussion Ensemble. If I can create an ensemble and have my students perform in the community, I can help them create experiences that they will remember fondly for the rest of their lives,” he adds. Thanks to the generosity of Joe Bonamassa fans and music lovers like you, Keeping the Blues Alive was able to donate two Suzuki xylophones to the music program. Mr. Scott expresses his gratitude: Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, Inc., Thank you so much for funding this project! My students (and I) are ecstatic! Now we will be able to create amazing music and memories that will last our entire lives. Thanks a lot! Education is an investment that takes an entire generation to bear fruit. This makes it hard for some people to prioritize it. Thank you for your faith in education and in our future. With gratitude, Mr. Scott Every week, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation makes a donation to a school in need of music instruments, supplies, sheet music, and more! Your donation helps us to keep music in schools while preserving blues heritage. If you would like to help us fund next week’s project, click here to make a donation! All donations are fully tax-deductible! Thank you for keeping music education in schools! P.S. Stay on the look-out for upcoming pledge opportunities for Giving Tuesday (Nov. 27th), the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Giving Tuesday is the BIGGEST nonprofit fundraiser of the year and we would love to have your pledge Shawn Hagood for Keeping the Blues Alive Help us with our mission of Keeping the Blues Alive in schools! To learn more or donate to Keeping The Blues Alive, visit our website at https://keepingthebluesalive.org/

November 20, 2018

KTBA Donates Instrumental Method Books to Junior High School

KTBA Success Story: Instrumental Method Books Donated to Junior High School Ms. McAlester Thoreau Demonstration Academy Shawn Hagood for Keeping the Blues Alive TULSA, OK – Thanks to your donations, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation donated a classroom set of instrumental method books to the music program at Thoreau Demonstration Academy! Due to its varied economic status, more than half of the students at the school come from low-income households. After the previous band director left the school, Ms. McAlester took over a program full of students who were ornery, disappointed, and afraid of what the future held for the music program. “Once they realized that I wanted the best for them and that I truly cared about them, they saw that they had the ability to improve their skills,” Ms. McAlester explains. However, Thoreau was seriously underfunded in regards to a music budget. “I have instruments that are so old they cannot be repaired. I have had to borrow instruments from other schools in my district because I’ve grown the program so much in two years that I did not have enough physical instruments for all of my students. I wanted to get my 8th grade group a class set of method books. We have NOTHING like that here and by 8th grade, they are advanced players and should be able to play at a much more competitive level.” Thanks to the generosity of Joe Bonamassa fans and music lovers like you, Keeping the Blues Alive was able to afford an entire set of music instrument method books that they will be able to distribute amongst the entire ensemble. This includes brass, woodwinds, and scores! Ms. McAlester expresses her gratitude: Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, Inc., I have been in tears for 30 minutes because I just can’t even begin to thank you enough. These books are a game changer. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are giving these students a key to unlock their potential. You are giving me the tools I need to make these students succeed and for that I am forever indebted to your kindness. With gratitude, Ms. McAlester Every week, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation makes a donation to a school in need of music instruments, supplies, sheet music, and more! Your donation helps us to keep music in schools, while preserving blues heritage. If you would like to help us fund next week’s project, click here to make a donation! All donations are tax-deductible! Thank you for keeping music education in schools! P.S. Stay on the look-out for upcoming pledge opportunities for Giving Tuesday (Nov. 27th), the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Giving Tuesday is the BIGGEST nonprofit fundraiser of the year and we would love to have your pledge! For more info, follow us on Facebook! Thank you in advance for your participation!

November 14, 2018

KTBA Donates Ukuleles to Middle School Gen Music Class!

Ukulele Rock Stars! Shawn Hagood for Keeping the Blues Alive LUCAMA, NC – Thanks to your donations, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation donated ten brand new Mitchell MU40 Soprano Ukuleles to students at Springfield Middle School! “My students are very eager to learn about all aspects of music!” Mrs. Honeycutt explains. “They are positive and very enthusiastic about learning music together in the class.” Typically, students that end up in Mrs. Honeycutt’s general music classes are students whose families cannot afford the luxury of purchasing new instruments. They are not enrolled in a band class and often find it difficult to keep up with their peers. This is one of the many reasons KTBA funds ukulele projects. Their low cost allows teachers the flexibility of ordering by quantity without sacrificing quality. In this situation, everyone wins – especially the student. Another reason is because of their portability. The ukes are lightweight and often come with small cases for easy transport. Lastly, the ukulele is a 4-string instrument. This means less strings per classroom and quicker tuning when you have 20-30 middle school students trying to get started as quick as possible! In the small town of Lucama, these instruments will mean a lot to the community. Local functions will require entertainment from the neighboring schools and musical techniques will be passed on from class to class. “I also plan on having the students perform what they learned on the ukulele for the student body,” Mrs. Honeycutt explains. “It is super awesome to learn something and actually be able to perform it for others! My students will have the opportunity to experience the benefits of actually performing something that they have learned. They will gain self confidence and learn how to process what it takes to present to others. Performance helps us with public speaking and other opportunities to present before others. I am super excited about making it available to all my students this year!” Springfield Middle School Testimonial: Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, Inc., We are so very thankful for the ukulele instruments and books that were given to us through Donor’s Choose. The students at Springfield Middle are very excited about learning how to play the Ukulele. We are introducing the instrument to the students and they have nothing but smiles! For some of the students at our school this is the very first time they have ever held a stringed instrument. I remember as a child seeing a large upright bass and wanting to just touch it! We are beginning to master how to tune the instrument and make sure we are holding it correctly. The students have been so excited and their faces were full of joy when I showed them the instruments. They are very well prepared for class because we have the instruments and books. Some of them have been asking for weeks, “When are we going to start the ukulele, Mrs. Honeycutt?” It has been so fun giving them this opportunity to learn how to play it. We have been learning how to tune, hold and play our first few chords on the instrument. Our next goal is to be able to play a song from beginning to end with chord changes. We hope to be able to master changing chords without having to stop between them. This is a big goal and most likely will take us all year to master! Thank you again for thinking of us and making this dream of mine a reality for our students! You have been such a huge blessing for our current students and for the future classes! With gratitude, Mrs. Honeycutt Thanks to Joe Bonamassa fans and music lovers like you, these kids will have an opportunity to learn ukulele fingerings as well as the culture they came from. Every week, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation makes a donation to music programs in need of music supplies, sheet music, and instruments. To help us fund next week’s project, click here!

November 1, 2018

Why Should We Enroll Kids Into Music Programs?

Even if you just read (hopefully) my monthly articles about music education and its abounding benefits on individuals, especially children. Although music and other arts programs are suffering and grossly underfunded, organizations like Joe Bonamassa’s Keeping The Blues Alive and many others are working to make sure music remains as an option for children. If you can, please visit https://keepingthebluesalive.org/ to make a contribution to helping kids make music, every penny counts! Whether you are interested in enrolling your child in lessons or a music program or are just curious about how learning an instrument can benefit an individual, keep on reading as I outline a few ways music can help a child in everyday life. A Welcomed Break Some parents and even teachers believe that any time spent out of a core classroom like math or English, is counterintuitive to learning. I would like to offer the counterpoint to this argument; if we are constantly cramming information into children’s brains without a break or a different activity, they are more likely to overload and may not retain the information they have learned. Various studies have shown that with several breaks like recess or various activities, productivity grows exponentially, the same actually goes for office jobs as well! So, if we introduce various extracurriculars into a class schedule, like music, we are not only stimulating a different side of the brain, but also allowing for a needed break from our common core subjects. Camaraderie Sometimes it is challenging to make friends even at a young age. Music classes offer a space filled with like-minded children with shared interests, and if they head to future schools together, they may make lifelong friends. I know from firsthand experience that band programs, especially in high school operate like a family unit and offer the chance to meet a bunch of people with a wide range of personalities and skills. While in the normal academic classroom, we may find a few people with similar qualities, but getting to spend time after school and on trips with band mates is a unique experience and vital for some students from a social standpoint. Creative Outlet I remember watching an amazing TED talk with a fantastic speaker, Ken Robinson about schools killing a child’s creativity. It is a great speech that touches on the core of this article and Keeping The Blues Alive and I think everyone should watch it! A specific part of the talk that stand out for me is when Robinson talks about the famous choreographer Gillian Lynne who is known for her work with the Broadway shows Cats and Phantom of the Opera, yeah she’s kind of important. Apparently, when Gillian was in school in England, her teachers were concerned that she might have a learning disability because she couldn’t sit still. Robinson points out that now we would say she has ADHD which, Robinson quips was something in the 30’s that “people weren’t they could have.” She was sat down with a specialist alongside her mother and they outlined what Gillian was doing wrong. Supposedly, the doctor and Gillian’s mother left the room, but he kept a radio with music on in the room. The doctor told the mother to simply watch her daughter who immediately leapt to her feet and started dancing, which prompted the doctor to say, “your daughter isn’t sick, she’s a dancer.” This story always sticks out to me because it shows the importance of other forms of education and activity for children. After she went to a dance school, Gillian Lynne thrived because she was in her element surrounded with other people who had to “move to think.” If we stifle our children and blame various mental illnesses without trying a simple change in lifestyle we are truly doing them a disservice.

October 19, 2018

Musical Crisis in The UK

So, we have known that the future of music programs or fine arts classes in general were in jeopardy for years now, but this article from the UK makes the premise that much more real and inevitable. The grim but blunt truth behind the vanishing of music programs is that without funds, children will not be able to enjoy music classes and as a result, may not be able to realize their true potential. Think about the thousands of artists who took advantage of invaluable music instruction to help their songwriting or to set them on a correct path.Recently, the large London umbrella company, UK Music who deals with different aspects of music production, put out a new report in which they outline “challenges facing the future of British music, including education, infrastructure, and access to finance.” The music industry, especially in the UK has been a lucrative and sustaining market for years. However, the factors listed above “place future industry growth under threat.”It is obvious to say that without public music programs, we wouldn’t have a lot of the talent we have in the world today. One musician who has voiced his opinions as a strong advocate for music education is the pop icon Ed Sheeran. Sheeran has stated that “I feel very strongly about this. I benefited hugely from state school music, as I’m sure many other UK musicians have. If you keep cutting the funding for arts you’re going to be damaging one of Britain’s best and most lucrative exports. Anyway, one to think about.” In their report, UK Music outlines that even though consumers continue to listen to music at a constant and even higher rate now, the industry is still losing money. A major reason for this is the advent of various streaming sites that allow users to have essentially unlimited access to an artist’s entire catalog. The report also gives possible solutions for how to overcome these and other issues.If the UK is now finding these issues linked to the music industry and music education, the US is most likely in the same boat. That is why preserving music education is so important! Read the full articles right here! https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/ed-sheeran-speaks-out-against-cuts-to-music-education-in-state-schools-37319921.html https://www.m-magazine.co.uk/news/numerous-challenges-threatening-future-music-talent/

September 19, 2018