Education Fund

The Classical Station’s
2024 Education Fund Grant
Application Process is now open! 

Deadline for applications is Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

We are excited to partner with local non-profits working to provide music lessons, scholarships and instruments to young people in our area.   

Please submit your organization’s completed application to Heather Greene, Director of Member Services at heather@theclassicalstation.org or submit by mail to:

WCPE Radio
Attention: Heather Greene/Education Fund
PO Box 828
Wake Forest, NC 27588

The Education Fund Instrument Donation Program

The Classical Station has an instrument donation program. Through this program we make donated instruments available to students in music education programs and non-profit organizations in North Carolina.

Photo courtesy of North Carolina Chamber Music Institute

Over the last ten years, the Education Fund has awarded more than $80,000 in grants to numerous music education non-profits in North Carolina. In addition to grants that support music lessons, concerts, and scholarships, we hope that the instrument donation program will help even more students to realize their dreams of studying music. You can help to make their dreams come true and receive a tax receipt for your donation of an instrument.

Photo courtesy of North Carolina Chamber Music Institute

Gently used instruments in working condition, or with minor repairs needed, are being accepted. We are especially interested in trumpets, flutes, clarinets, French horns, trombones, violins, violas, cellos, and saxophones and accept other classical instruments for band or orchestra.

For more information about the Education Fund, or to inquire about donating your instrument, please contact Tanja Greaves at 919-556-5178. Arrangements for pickup will be made on a case-by-case basis.


Press Release: The Classical Station’s Education Fund Announces 2023 Awards:

$16,500 in Grants to Support Classical Music Education in the Community

2021 Education Fund Grant Recipients

NC Young People to Reap Benefits of latest Musical Grants from The Classical Station

WAKE FOREST, NC (May 18, 2021). Six area non-profit musical organizations won a combined total of over $10,000 in grants from the WCPE Education Fund. The grants will help fund music lessons for underprivileged children, scholarships, a symphony outreach program for four-year-olds in Head Start programs, and money for instrument repairs.

The six winning non-profits are:
1. Young Musicians of Alamance
2. Community Music School, Raleigh
3. North Carolina Chamber Music Institute
4. Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra
5. Greensboro Symphony Orchestra
6. SKJAJA Fund

Each of these organizations is dedicated to helping children experience the joy of music by providing accessible, affordable lessons and meaningful performance opportunities. All of this is made possible by listeners of The Classical Station who set aside ten percent of their gift to fund musical education in our communities.

The Classical Station began broadcasting as WCPE, a small “mom and pop” station in 1978. More than forty years later it has grown to be an international broadcaster, with its home in Wake Forest, North Carolina and a listenership that extends worldwide. The Education Fund was founded to empower musical non-profits to share a love and appreciation of music with the community, and to continue the vision of The Classical Station’s founder, Deborah Proctor, to make classical music available to all.
Dan McHugh, chair of the Education Fund and Membership Director at WCPE, The Classical Station, said “I am so excited for all of the organizations because this money will help them to continue offering music lessons to students in need. Many of these organizations are continuing their classes via virtual lessons.

Thanks to all of the members of The Classical Station who have supported the Education Fund and to my fellow committee members for making this all possible.”

WCPE Education Fund Press Release Grant Awards 2021

2020 Education Fund Grant Recipients

The Classical Station Awards over $10,000 in Grants During Tenth Anniversary

Five Musical Non-profits Receive Grants for 2020-2021 Season

WAKE FOREST, NC (July 15, 2020) – Five musical education non-profits in North Carolina are being awarded grants totaling $10,300 during the Tenth Anniversary of The Classical Station’s (WCPE) Education Fund which will support music lessons, beginning strings programs, and scholarships.  Award recipients are accepting their grants virtually in a very special online ceremony.

This year’s grant recipient organizations are:

  • Musical Empowerment
  • North Carolina Chamber Music Institute
  • Community Music School
  • Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra
  • Greensboro Symphony Orchestra

Each of these organizations is dedicated to helping children experience the joy of music by providing accessible, affordable lessons and meaningful performance opportunities. All of this is made possible by listeners of The Classical Station who set aside ten percent of their gift to fund musical education in our communities.

The Classical Station began broadcasting as WCPE, a small “mom and pop” station in 1978.  More than forty years later it has grown to be an international broadcaster, with its home in Wake Forest, North Carolina and a listenership that extends worldwide.  The Education Fund was founded to empower musical non-profits to share a love and appreciation of music with the community, and to continue the vision of The Classical Station’s founder, Deborah Proctor, to make classical music available to all.

Dan McHugh, chair of the Education Fund and Membership Director at WCPE, The Classical Station, said “I am so excited for all of the organizations because this money will help them to continue offering music lessons to students in need. Many of these organizations are switching to virtual lessons, which is so important when schools are closed. Thanks to all of the members of The Classical Station who support the Education Fund and to my fellow committee members for making this all possible.”

For more information about this year’s grants and organizations, please visit TheClassicalStation.org/membership/education-fund/.

The Education Fund has awarded nearly $100,000 in grants since it began in 2010.

 

The Classical Station’s Education Fund Supports Six Organizations for 2019-20 Season

 

North Carolina Chamber Music Institute

We are pleased to continue funding Musical Empowerment, a non-profit organization that pairs volunteer college students with young musicians. Their Music Mentorship Program has expanded to numerous college campus in North Carolina including NC State, UNC–Chapel Hill, High Point University, and East Carolina University.

The North Carolina Chamber Institute (NCCMI) provides merit scholarships to members of the WCPE String Quartet. NCCMI has expanded from its initial class of 13 students to 81 this year. Students also have access to master classes and performance opportunities around Raleigh.

Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra

The WCPE Education Fund is excited to support the Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra’s new Crescendo Project, which will serve 200 elementary school students in Vance and Franklin Counties. The students will have free after-school string lessons, opportunities they would not otherwise have.

Kidznotes

Kidznotes received a grant that will go towards their Youth Development Program in Raleigh. Every student in the Kidznotes program receives over 200 hours of instruction and is provided an instrument. This year, 240 students will be enrolled in the program in Raleigh.

Young Musicians of Alamance

 

The Young Musicians of Alamance provides free after-school music lessons to under-privileged students in Burlington, NC. Elementary-, middle-, and high-school students are provided their own instruments and healthy snacks.

Community Music School

The Community Music School in Raleigh offers lessons for $1 to underprivileged students. They are beginning a new, tiered system of instruction for beginning, intermediate, and advanced students as they move to their new location.

We are excited to partner with these non-profit organizations and hope to fund more programs next year. You can help the WCPE Education Fund support more students by allocating ten percent of your donation to the fund. The Classical Station is dedicated to supporting our classical community and encouraging our next generation of musicians.