For immediate release
Media Contact: Christa Weston, Marketing Specialist
310-833-4813 or [email protected].
Grand Vision Foundation’s
Roots of Music Program
Awarded $50,000 Music Education Partnership Grant from
Chorus America
SAN PEDRO, CA (June 1, 2022) – Grand Vision’s Roots of Music Program (RoMP) has been awarded a $50,000 Music Education Partnership Grant as a part of Chorus America’s new partnership program. Grand Vision was one of twenty-one organizations chosen from different regions throughout the US and Canada to join the cohort representing the Southwest US region. RoMP was selected because of the program’s ability to promote learning and cultural literacy with an emphasis on access, diversity, equity, and inclusion. This award will support RoMP at local partnering elementary schools in the South Bay during the 2022-23 school year, and allow participation in Chorus America’s annual conferences for the grant partner cohort.
“We are thrilled to congratulate each of our incredible grant partners in the inaugural cohort of our Music Education Partnership program,” said Chorus America president and CEO Catherine Dehoney. “Their bold visions to create a more equitable future for young people through choral music are extraordinary, and I am honored for Chorus America to support their important work.”
Adds Liz Schindler Johnson, Executive Director of Grand Vision Foundation, “It’s an honor to receive this recognition for RoMP, which we’ve provided at low or no cost to the Harbor area’s underserved elementary schools since 2009. We will continue to develop our education offerings with the needs and challenges of our community’s youth in mind.”
RoMP teaches elementary school students music basics, shows them the power of practice and teamwork, and encourages empathy. Through a semester-long, standards-based curriculum, fourth graders explore foundational music concepts through a multicultural lens. The program consists of a semester of in-school lessons, three professional concert field trip performances (presented virtually in 2021-22), and a culminating student choral concert. The curriculum gets kids singing, creating and moving to music – and at the same time, it opens the door to learning about geography, global history and cultural empathy through diverse music traditions. Pictured: RoMP teaching artist Lupe Montiel teaching at Harry Bridges Span School, Wilmington, CA.
RECENT COMMENTS BY ROMP PARTICIPANTS
“One student I have is extremely shy. The only time I would see her turn her camera on was during the RoMP program. She would even dance and sing. RoMP truly helped my student express herself. Especially, during a time when it is hard to express yourself during distant learning…You are amazing and I cannot thank you enough!”
- Ms. Rodriguez, 4th grade teacher at Cabrillo Ave.
“My favorite part was seeing my friends and getting to sing with people that I didn’t know before.”
- Moises C., 4th grade student from Pt. Fermin Elementary
“I loved the field trips because I got to learn about the past. I also liked how my class and I got to learn the paths of other people.”
- Melody A., 4th-grade Student, Cabrillo Avenue Elementary School
ABOUT CHORUS AMERICA’S MUSIC EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP GRANTS
Through a new funding opportunity, Chorus America’s inaugural Music Education Partnerships Grants program provides funding of over $1 million to 21 community organizations working to increase access to choral music education and promote non-arts learning and cultural literacy. The projects funded in the 2022-23 school year also uphold the principles of access, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Chorus America’s criteria for funding applications were guided by core values of community co-creation, cross-cultural exchange, and the dismantling of historic and systemic racism.
ABOUT GRAND VISION FOUNDATION
Grand Vision Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) arts presenting and arts education organization. The organization serves as the Official Friends’ Group to the Warner Grand Theatre and regularly produces live concerts at the Grand Annex Music Hall, a 150-seat music listening room in the heart of San Pedro’s arts district, as well as concerts, performances and educational events at the 1,500 seat Warner Grand Theatre. For the next generation, Grand Vision’s “Meet the Music” program serves over 2,300 elementary students, primarily in the LA Harbor area, with a robust in-school music curriculum.
- Website – Grandvision.org
- Facebook – Facebook.com/GrandVisionFoundation
- Instagram – Instagram.com/warnergrand_grandannex
- YouTube – Youtube.com/channel/UCXQdOaHj7-RbDNqYWWUuv-Q
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For more information, photos, or to schedule an interview, please contact Grand Vision’s Marketing Specialist Christa Weston at 310-833-4813 or [email protected].
