LOS ANGELES (October 18, 2021) – The Music Man Foundation awarded more than $1.1 million in grant funds to 24 music education programs, including Education Through Music-Los Angeles, in LA County in response to the ongoing needs of the non-profit sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Foundation aims to provide funds which sustain music education programs for young people ages 0-18 in LA County.
Organizations focused exclusively on music education or those whose programming reflects a strong emphasis on music education were eligible to receive the funds. Recipient programs include low-cost or subsidized private music lessons, professional development for music teachers, and in-school residencies.
“Since its beginnings, The Music Man Foundation has had a commitment to music education programs, especially those for young people who lack access to music instruction. Over the difficult last 19 months, the Foundation has supported an increased number of local organizations that provide music education in-school, after-school, and in partnership with school districts and other community organizations,” remarks Foundation Executive Director Sarah Lyding.
Lyding adds, “The Foundation is immensely impressed with organizations’ dedication to music learning during this unprecedented pandemic time; so many have modified their program models by generating creative technology solutions to ensure they can continue to serve young people.”
ETM-LA Executive Director Victoria Lanier shares, “Education Through Music-Los Angeles’s partnership with The Music Man Foundation helps amplify the life-changing power of music and music education, and to ensure that all youth have equity and access to comprehensive music instruction in school. We are incredibly grateful to the Foundation for their continued support since our partnership began in 2016.”
About The Music Man Foundation:
The Music Man Foundation is named after the Tony winning musical written by Meredith Willson. Meredith’s widow, Rosemary, started the Foundation in 1998 as the Meredith and Rosemary Willson Charitable Foundation and substantially increased the Foundation’s endowment upon her death in 2010. With a mission to support programs that use music to improve children’s lives, the Foundation currently focuses its investments in two initiative areas: core-curriculum music education and music therapy. Besides “The Music Man,” Meredith Willson wrote the musical, “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” and beloved songs “It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas” and the University of Iowa fight song.
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Education Through Music-Los Angeles is an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to provide and promote music in under-resourced schools as part of the core curriculum for every child in order to enhance students’ academic achievement, creativity, and overall development.
For more information: www.etmla.org