June News
June 2014 E-Blast
MFE Announces The Award of an Additional $9,000 Grants!
As many of you may know, in May MFE awarded $79,661 to schools and community arts groups in Lancaster County as part of our annual grant program. This represented the largest annual total for this program.
We are pleased to announce that since then we have secured an additional $9,000 in earmarked funding for School District of Lancaster music initiatives. The source of this additional money came from an individual donor and a national matching grant from the “Classics for Kids Foundation”.
While we were able to give almost $80,000 in grants this year, we received requests for $167,296. We’ve worked very aggressively to continue to find alternative sources of funding to close this gap,. These efforts have now born fruit and we are delighted to be in a position to award these additional funds.
The extra awards will not only allow for the purchase of various string instruments for several schools, but it will also fund an innovative pilot program designed to assess how iPads might be used to deliver a quality musical experience for elementary school students.
The iPad pilot program is significant because today’s world of declining resources has resulted in fewer music teachers. Therefore, we must provide platforms for teachers to effectively engage larger numbers of students. Computer based musical experiences offer a way to accomplish that goal.
Keys For the City 2014 Pianos Are On The Streets!
We’re rolling into summer so that means that Keys for the City pianos are back in downtown Lancaster. This year we are featuring 13 pianos! So, get your groove on and come down and tickle a few ivories and experience, first hand, why Lancaster, PA is the “Street Piano Capital of the World”! Head to our website Keysforthecity.com or Musicforeveryone.net for more information regarding locations and additional events around the pianos. You can also follow the pianos on our Facebook page where we will be posting pictures and announcing various events and promotions relating to the pianos all summer long.
We would like to thank the following sponsors for making Keys 2014 a reality:
Lead Sponsors:
High Construction Company Tell Manufacturing
The Lancaster County Community Foundation Falkner BMW
West End Yoga Patterson-Votilla Dentistry
The Demuth Museum Fresh Coat of Lancaster
SWAN (Scaling Walls A Note At a Time) Lancaster Day Care Center
The United Way of Lancaster Willow Valley Communities
MFE Community Piano Sponsors:
Shayne and Anne Beecher
In-kind Sponsors:
Atomic Design Benchmark Construction
Mt. Everest Moving Company Chroma, Inc.
Gallagher & Sons Construction Go Welsh!
J.C. Snavely & Sons Patio at Penn Stone
Piano Tuning by Dawn Herring’s Piano Service, 717-299-5392
MFE Continues to Add “Street Spots” to Music Friday
MFE’s has been partnering with MOOSE and Series 42 to “expand” the amount of music in downtown Lancaster during Music Fridays. Between the 12 “street spots” with busking musicians, the 13 Keys For the City pianos, and our renewed efforts to encourage bars, restaurants, and galleries to sponsor music, beyond the “Mothership Stage” in Binns park, there will be almost 40 music acts spread throughout downtown. And with the help of Tellus360, Moxie House, and Annie Bailey’s we have expanded Music Friday to include East King Street. This will further enhance Music Fridays and represents another “brick in the wall” in our efforts to assist Lancaster in its development as an “arts destination”.
Year Three of “ MFE in the Schools” – Increasing our impact!
With the close of the school year upon us, we are happy to announce another successful year for “MFE in the Schools”. This program is designed to address the “mentoring/instructional gap” in school music programs. In short, you can provide each child in a class of 40 with a brand new instruments, but if there is only one instructor/mentor for the group, those instruments will never unleash their full educational potential. For the past three years, Mike Jamanis Jr. and an assortment of high school and college student volunteers have worked in eight SDOL schools, alongside existing music educators providing both group and ensemble instruction. We’ve also been able to underwrite two part-time instructors (Ryan Kaufman [Reeds] and Kate Umble [Brass]). Collectively, the “music mentors” worked with over 300 students per week for the school year. MFE in the Schools has also provided several public performance opportunities for the children and also arranged for and underwrote several in school music performances by various ensembles. Most notably, several Millersville University Music Department ensembles performed in SDOL schools. We are looking forward to expanding this program for the 2014-2015 school year, depending on securing additional funding.
MFE Summer Camps Continue to Serve More Students!!
MFE, once again, will conduct two weeks of summer camp. The first during the week of June 23rd, and the second during the week of August 4th. This year, both camps will be held at the Ware Center. Mike Jamanis will be leading the camp, which will serve approximately 60 “scholarship” students. Additionally, this year will mark the second year of the inclusion of brass and woodwind instruments.
Save the Date – Saturday September 20th for the MFE Fall Barn Bash!!
Go ahead and mark it down… In ink! This year will be one of a kind as The Lipbone Redding Orchestra returns to the barn stage on the Gerdy farm. Lipbone Redding has traveled the world with his guitar, sharing music and tales with audiences for the past 15 years. He weaves funky rhythms, catchy original songs, brash humor, soulful singing, and inventive guitar playing with exotic and percussive vocal sounds such as throat singing, bass and beat-boxing, and his astonishingly realistic lip-tromboning.
If you have been to one of these barn bashes, you know what we’re talkin’ ‘bout. If not, we assure you that it’ll be in your best interest to be there. Formal invitations will be mailed shortly. If you have questions, contact John Gerdy at johngerdy@aol.com.
And remember… “There ain’t no party like a barn party!”
MFE Scholars and Buchanan Elementary record song for a movie!
Recently, students from Buchanan Elementary, under the direction of two MFE Scholars (Jordan Shomper and Andrea Kurnat) and in cooperation with Millersville University, experienced a once in a lifetime opportunity. The students recorded a song for a documentary that will be released nationally. Not only will the song be featured in the documentary, “Ricki’s Promise”, but the students will also have a chance to perform at the “red carpet” premiere hosted by Millersville University at their Visual and Performing Arts Center. At the November 23rd premiere, in addition to the screening, there will be discussions, speeches by the film crew, and a live performance featuring the Buchanan Elementary students under the direction of the MFE Scholars. So mark your calendar now! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for these kids and they need your support!
Music For Everyone Approved to Receive Funds from the EITC!!
MFE has a great opportunity for businesses to both contribute funds to MFE and receive a tax credit at the same time. How you ask? Through the Pennsylvania Educational Improvement Tax Credit or EITC! This credit allows a business to pledge funds to a nonprofit educational organization and deduct 75-90% of that contribution as a tax credit. For example, if your business were to pledge $10,000 for two years to MFE, the business could write off $9,000 of that donation! That is a $10,000 donation that only costs $1,000! Think about how many instruments we could provide to schools in Lancaster County, while allowing your business to benefit from the tax credit! If you would like more information, please contact Brendan at MFELancaster@gmail.com.
Ukulele Uprising!
Come join the MFE Ukulele Uprising on Tuesday evenings at 7:30 PM at the Vision Corps building at 244 N. Queen St. All are welcome to this MFE community building initiative.
Monthly Music Download
For this month’s music download, we’re featuring a song from MFE Vol. VI. “The Way Down” by Jessica Smucker is a track that you should certainly check out! It is available at musicforeveryone.organd it’s FREE!! Check it out!
In the meantime, play on Lancaster!