On Monday, May 21, 2018, the D’addario Foundation hosted the Long Island Lesson Program’s end-of-year recital at the D’Addario & Co Factory in Farmingdale, New York.
Through the newly founded Music Education for Girls Initiative, six scholarships were awarded to the students in the Copiague School District, which will provide yearly youth orchestra participation and 30 weeks of private lessons.
The D’Addario Foundation awarded scholarships to Susan Rivas, Jennifer Calderon, Kierah Harris, Victoria Wheby, Jazmin Infante, and Caitlyn Carrington.
“String music education and advocacy are growing all thanks to the D’Addario Foundation. My students, before they started, did not know what a violin, viola, cello or bass was,” said Kelly Flynn, lead harmony teacher, D’Addario Foundation. “Now, they won’t listen to any music without these instruments. Music is history, and when it is not being taught, a whole world of understanding one another is cut off.”
The Long Island Lesson Program—financed completely by the D’Addario Foundation and managed by the Harmony Program—has operated for the last four years in the Copiague School District chosen because of its constituency of high needs families. The program provides six hours a week of instrument instruction more than 30 weeks a year, including summer camp.
In addition to the scholarships awarded, Sammy and Ben Ash attended and gave the music teachers gift certificates to Sam Ash stores.
“D’Addario has opened these worlds and doors for these children, and their lives have already changed for the better,” Flynn adds. “Through music, they have become well-rounded, compassionate, hardworking and dedicated human beings.”
