The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Rocco Landesman announced today that Lexington Symphony is one of 96 not-for-profit organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art Works grant in the highly-competitive music category. Lexington Symphony has been awarded $10,000 for its celebrated educational program, Orchestrating Kids Through ClassicsTM.
Orchestrating Kids Through ClassicsTM, a creative introduction to the history of music, began in 2009 with funding from the Lexington Education Foundation, reaching all Lexington third grade students that year. Additional corporate and state support allowed the program to grow, and this year nearly 3,000 elementary students attended from towns from all around the Boston area and the state, including Lawrence, Dorchester, Framingham, Wilmington, Burlington, Arlington and Medford. NEA funding will allow Lexington Symphony to expand Orchestrating Kids Through ClassicsTM and bring even more children to hear this singular program.
The NEA Art Works grants support the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, encourages public engagement through diversity, stimulates lifelong learning in the arts, and strengthens communities.
“Funding from the NEA puts us on a national stage and shows we’ve met a high bar for artistic excellence, innovation, and public engagement,” says Rebecca Hawkins, Lexington Symphony violinist and grantwriter. “We are very, very proud to receive this endorsement.” Hawkins adds, “As musicians, we love Orchestrating Kids because it reaches students from all different communities and gets them thinking about classical music in an exploring, unconventional way — they are inspired to try out new sounds, new ideas, a new instrument.”
Orchestrating Kids Through Classics starts with a visit by four Lexington Symphony musicians to each elementary school, where the musicians engage the students in smaller groups and prepare them for the field trip to the big orchestra concert. The concerts take place in town halls – Cary Memorial Hall in Lexington and Nevins Hall in Framingham. More intimate than huge concert halls, the venues allow the students to experience the orchestra up close and in buildings that are central to the life of the community.
At the concert, Music Director Jonathan McPhee takes the audience on a tour of the orchestra from its very beginnings 500 years ago through present-day Star Wars, with creative flourishes along the way, including chanting monks, a virtuoso student performer, and an appearance by Darth Vader.
The children often arrive with no preconceived ideas about or experience with classical music and love it. As one student wrote, “The music was awesome, I wish I could go again…You guys convinced me to play an instrument.” Parents love it too. Lexington mom Jennifer Lawrence writes that she “was absolutely amazed by the program’s ability to introduce kids to the history of music in such a compelling way,” adding, “My daughter was completely entranced!”
The next Orchestrating Kids Through Classics series runs from December 2012 through February 2013. School reservations are available now; visit www.lexingtonsymphony.org for information.
Lexington Symphony is a group of dedicated professional musicians who share a passion for music and for exacting standards of performance. The symphony is directed by Maestro Jonathan McPhee, one of the leading musical figures in New England. The symphony season runs from September through June with seven ticketed concerts, community outreach programs, and a dedicated education program for the next generation of musicians, including Orchestrating Kids Through ClassicsTM.
