KidZNotes and North Carolina Symphony Announce New Partnership

KidZNotes marks its first year by announcing an exciting new partnership with the North Carolina Symphony. The two organizations will celebrate together at KidZNotes' launch ceremony this Saturday, Sept. 17 at 10:30 a.m., at the Holton Career and Resource Center at 401 N. Driver St. in Durham, N.C.

KidZNotes, which is modeled after Venezuela's highly successful El Sistema program, uses the transformational power of classical music to help build new futures for children, targeting those who would otherwise be blocked by economic and social barriers. Established last year in East Durham, KidZNotes enriches the lives elementary school students and their families through music. Participants in the program learn to play violin and receive free orchestra training in a safe environment that emphasizes fun, joy and teamwork in learning as well as musical accomplishment.

Presenting and supporting an extensive education program for North Carolina schoolchildren has always been a major priority of the North Carolina Symphony. Through this collaboration the organization will offer its education and community engagement concerts and programs free of charge to KidZNotes students and their families.

Scott Lindroth, Vice Provost of the Arts for Duke University, and David Reese, head of the East Durham Children's Initiative, will join North Carolina Symphony President and CEO Sandi M.A. Macdonald; Director of Education Jessica Nalbone; and principal cello Bonnie Thron as special guests. KidZNotes students will receive their new instruments and the kick-off will conclude with an informal reception.

"We're thrilled about this important opportunity for our students," says KidZNotes Executive Director Katie Wyatt. "In Venezuela's El Sistema, the youth orchestras there have a deep relationship with some of the best orchestras and conductors in the world. The North Carolina Symphony is home to the best musicians and conductors in our state, and attracts world-class artists from the international community. Through an intense practice of classical music, we're teaching them they can do and be anything."

Symphony Director of Education Jessica Nalbone adds, "The North Carolina Symphony is proud to partner with KidZNotes and support this new initiative in Durham. Through this partnership, we intend to offer access to the span of our educational programming, ensuring opportunities for underserved populations that will foster a lifelong love for and involvement in classical music. This is the start of an exciting venture, and one which aligns wholly with our orchestra's mission to serve North Carolina's students through music."

About KidZNotes

KidZNotes is expanding in its second year to enroll 100 students in need at four low-income schools in East Durham: Eastway Elementary, Y.E. Smith Elementary, E.K. Powe Elementary and Club Boulevard Humanities Magnet Elementary. KidZNotes provides instruments and nearly ten hours a week of free music instruction for their 100 students. KidZNotes is sponsored by Duke University, Durham Public Schools, Durham Parks and Recreation, the Durham Arts Council and the East Durham Children's Initiative.

KidZNotes is inspired by El Sistema, the social-reform orchestra program for children and families in poverty in Venezuela. Information about KidZNotes' calendar and opportunities for support will be available at the event, and are listed at www.kidznotes.org. Donations of financial support and musical instruments will be gratefully received.

About the North Carolina Symphony

Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony performs over 175 concerts annually to adults and school children. The orchestra travels extensively throughout the state to venues in over 50 North Carolina counties. The orchestra employs 67 professional musicians under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Grant Llewellyn, Resident Conductor William Henry Curry and Associate Conductor Sarah Hicks.

Based in downtown Raleigh's spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts and an outdoor summer venue at Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C., the Symphony performs about 60 concerts annually in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary metropolitan area. It also holds regular concert series in Fayetteville, New Bern, Southern Pines and Wilmington and individual concerts in many other North Carolina communities throughout the year.

For tickets, program notes, podcasts, musician profiles, the Symphony blog and more, visit the North Carolina Symphony Web site at www.ncsymphony.org. Call North Carolina Symphony Audience Services at 919.733.2750 or toll free 877.627.6724.

To post a comment, you must register and login.