WCPE's Education Fund

As an expression of WCPE's mission, The WCPE Education Fund provides resources for nonprofit organizations that increase access to classical music education within the community.

Application Deadline: March 15

The WCPE Education Fund consists of monies raised by generous donors who have elected to reserve ten percent of a donation to WCPE Radio for educational outreach within the community. You, too, can contribute to this effort when you make contribution on our Secure Pledge Page!

The Classical Station is proud to announce a grant of $2,500 to the Philharmonic Association, made possible through the WCPE Education Fund. This grant will support a project providing students in the Association’s Youth Symphony, Youth Orchestra and Youth String Orchestra with new classical works written by North Carolina composers during the Philharmonic Association’s 25th anniversary season. Students will rehearse the newly commissioned works with composers Tom Lohr, Dr. Robert Nosow, Craig Hanemann, and Terry Mizesko before premiering them at Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh or the Cary Arts Center. The Philharmonic Association has a history of commissioning new works for its youth orchestras and believes that it is important for the students to perform new music and learn about the process of creating orchestral works.

Funding provided by the WCPE Education Fund will pay for one of four composer honorariums and for the composer’s attendance at one or more youth orchestra rehearsals. We commend the four North Carolina composers who will engage with and inspire these young musicians from different socioeconomic backgrounds. It is the Philharmonic Association’s policy not to turn away a budding musician for whom payment is the only obstacle. Students participating in the orchestra this season will learn about creative expression, discipline and teamwork. Learning music written especially for them will be the experience of a lifetime!

The Education Fund Committee is currently researching options for recording these premieres in hopes of airing them on WCPE Radio. We encourage all WCPE listeners and especially Education Fund contributors to see this grant in action!

Tom Lohr’s Fanfare will be premiered by the Triangle Youth Symphony Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. in Meymandi Concert Hall. Dr Robert Nosow’s work will be premiered by the Triangle Youth Orchestra Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. in Meymandi Concert Hall Craig Hanemann’s Reflections will be premiered by the Triangle Youth String Orchestra on Sunday, April 21, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. at Cary Arts Center.

The Philharmonic Association plans to schedule the premiere of Terry Mizesko’s new work in the fall on 2013.

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Thank you for choosing to support WCPE’s mission of sharing great classical music in our community through the Education Fund. Your contributions continue to improve the quality of life in our local community.

1. Eastern Music Festival’s five week long scholarship program allows young musicians to perform in a professional youth orchestra. Each student receives private lessons and coaching from world class musicians whom they also observe in their own professional environment, as they perform with the Eastern Music Festival Orchestra. The EMF Youth Orchestra also works with the Festival ‘s featured soloists and conductors, who include pianist Awadagin Pratt and conductor JoAnn Falletta this year. $2,500 will provide an opportunity for a young North Carolina musician in need of financial assistance to train in this life changing atmosphere.
2. Since they began, we have followed the progress of KidzNotes, based on Venezuela’s successful social program called El Sistema. The program provides daily music lessons and regular performance opportunities to at-risk students, building self esteem, musical skill, and sense of community. WCPE helped transport these students to local music camps last summer to retain their skills. This summer, $1,000 provided three full scholarships to KidzNotes’ own summer camp. Complete funding for the camp came from a team of community partners, individual donors and local businesses.
3. We are proud to announce our first grant to MYCO at Chapel Hill (Mallarme Youth Chamber Orchestra). MYCO serves between 40-70 students from all socio-economic backgrounds, ages 11-18. $1,000 will provide scholarships for several students who require assistance to study with top music instructors and to rehearse in a small group setting. The students perform publically several times around the Triangle each semester.
4. Our final summer grant, a gift of $500 to the Raleigh Concert Band, will cover a portion of the Band’s costs for music and performance venues. This all-volunteer orchestra provides a means for local non-professional musicians to retain or improve their skills. Concerts are designed to please audiences young and old, but RCB goes the extra mile by providing free tickets to many Raleigh Area Seniors to keep them active and to improve their quality of life.

To read more about how the WCPE empowers local nonprofit organizations to share great classical music within our community, visit WCPE.org/education

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I thought you might enjoy reading about a young woman who is grateful for your contribution to the WCPE Education Fund. Devonna is a seventeen year old violin player. She has been playing ever since she was four and a half years old when her mother brought a violin into their Ohio home and signed Devonna up for lessons through the Cleveland Music Settlement. Devonna and her mother moved to North Carolina just before Devonna’s freshman year in high school- a tough time to start making friends anew. Devonna’s school does not offer music lessons, and the family had limited options, so her mother contacted MYCO — Chapel Hill this summer.

Through MYCO (and her mother’s vigilant commitment to shuttle her to-and-from lessons), Devonna has received private weekly lessons from top instructors associated with major universities in the state since July. Support from the WCPE Education Fund this summer has allowed her to improve her skill tremendously through a workshop that placed her in two chamber groups- a trio and a quintet. Devonna confesses the music was quite challenging, but learning to play in this new setting- with someone playing something completely different right beside her - is an accomplishment that makes her beam with joy.

Juggling her musical commitment with other activities could be frustrating but Devonna is forthright in telling me it’s completely worth it. When asked about her plans for the future, Devonna says wants to work towards a degree in nursing while earning a minor in music. She looks forward to playing in a university orchestra.

Speaking with Devonna, it seemed clear to me that her financial limitations have not affected her desire to make music, to work hard and to help others. Family and community support have provided her with the tools she needs to build confidence and improve her musical skills. Perhaps one day while she checks your blood pressure and notes your remarkable heart health, you will see that twinkle in her eye when you reply, “It must be the classical music.”

Upcoming performances of MYCO-Chapel Hill Students at mycomusic.org

Reminder : WCPE bolsters musical education endeavors within the community through grants to established nonprofit organizations. Each donation of fifty dollars or more to The Classical Station is eligible to support the efforts of the WCPE Education Fund. Ten percent of the donation will be added to the WCPE Education Fund at the donor’s request when he/she requests no other “thank you” gift. The entire value of the donation is tax deductible.

Music changes lives at wcpe.org/education.

-Tara Lynn

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