Education Fund

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 musical 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.

About the WCPE Education Fund

The Education Fund has been growing strong since 2011, allowing us the ability to support a variety of nonprofit organizations that provide musical education via direct instruction or education-based performances. For the 2019-20 season, grants awarded totaled $12,500—nearly $4,000 more than in 2018! Thanks to all our members who designated ten percent of their donations to support music education.

Since 2011, over twenty diverse music nonprofit organizations have been awarded funds to assist with their programs, and no two are alike. Our goal is to assist these organizations as they help others experience the joy of music—by providing accessible, affordable lessons and meaningful performance opportunities.

If you have any questions about the application or the process, please contact me at 800-556-5178 or by e-mailing me.

Thank you for your impact on local music and musicians!

Dan McHugh
Education Fund Chair and WCPE Membership Director

 

Above photos courtesy of the North Carolina Chamber Music Institute

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

 

We are pleased to continue funding Musical Empowerment, a nonprofit 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.

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 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.

 

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.

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 nonprofit 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.

Apply for a WCPE Education Fund Grant

Application deadline: March 31

Download the WCPE Education Fund Grant Application (PDF).

Please submit all grant applications to:

WCPE Education Fund
PO Box 828
Wake Forest, NC 27588

Or e-mail Dan.

The Education Fund Instrument Donation Program

The Classical Station is excited to announce the instrument donation program! The purpose is to make donated instruments available to students in music education programs and nonprofit organizations in North Carolina.

Over the last ten years, the Education Fund has awarded more than $80,000 in grants to numerous music education nonprofits 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.

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 Dan McHugh, Membership director, at 919-556-5178 or by e-mail. Arrangements for pickup will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Donate your gently used instruments to the WCPE Education Fund!