M.E.L.A. Music Mentorship Program (Music Enriches Lives Always)

Vital Stats

Robin L

Friday Harbor, WA

  • people helped10
  • People Doing It10

The Problem

I live on a small island in Washington state. Our economy is primarily funded by tourism in the summer and the residential construction industry. There is a community of low income families with no money to allocate to music lessons even though their children have obvious talent and an interest in music. I envision a program that offers music lessons taught by younger trained musicians (with monthly guidance from professional island musicians) paid by donations according to what each family could afford. I believe this would help foster and grow a sustainable musical community that would in turn enrich the lives of the entire island populace.

Plan of Action

I am working to assemble a group of professional musicians to help and guide the young musicians who would act student-teachers. I have to find some start money to pay for the student and adult mentors. I also have to spread the word about the program throughout my community. This would entail posters, internet publicity and of course a good deal of word of mouth exposure. I will have to create a schedule for lessons and contact all of the potential youth and adult mentors to match up students with mentors. We will start with a small group of students to initiate the program but we will soon expand to all children who would not otherwise be able to afford lessons. At the end of this year, we will present a fund-raising concert that will introduce our teachers and ideas to the island community.
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Music Education

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