Britt Festivals Receives $10,000 for Music Education (9-19-07)
MEDFORD, OR — The James F. And Marion L. Miller Foundation awarded $10,000 to the Peter Britt Gardens Music and Arts Festival Association in support of The Britt Institute, the educational arm of Britt Festivals.
Funds from the Miller Foundation will be used to subsidize costs of Britt's music education listening programs in local public schools. Britt's music listening initiative called "Music in the Mornings™" is entering its 8th year of existence in the Medford School District. For five minutes at the beginning of every day, a selection is played through the school's public address system with an informative introduction read by the principal.
The same five-minute piece of music is played daily for a week, allowing children to develop a familiarity with the composer and his work. Each week features a different composer and a "kid friendly" script about the music. All 12 elementary schools in Medford have been participating in the program over the last eight years.
Beginning with Jacksonville School in 1999, the program has grown through Britt's support, gifts from businesses and individuals and generous grants from numerous foundations to include 88 schools in southern Oregon, currently serving more than 25,000 school children.
This fall and next spring, Britt brings its Faculty Quartet in Residence, the Arianna String Quartet, from St. Louis, Missouri, to perform at each elementary school, bringing to life the chamber music selections the children have been listening to over the years.
From September 26 through October 3, the quartet will visit local schools, presenting a 40-minute program, pulling apart the tapestry of the three musical compositions and analyzing the various musical, historical and creative elements, giving students insights into a more effective use of their own creative and analytical resources.
The presentations have been designed to suit the needs of each school and their curriculum, with curriculum guides being provided by Britt's education department. This outreach will continue until all 88 schools have had a visit from a string quartet.
The Arianna String Quartet has implemented its unique interdisciplinary curriculum at every academic level, from kindergarten through high school, and has received numerous accommodations for their work in education.
The next phases of the curriculum include bringing in ballet, opera and choral outreach in subsequent years.
For more information, visit Britt on the web at www.brittfest.org or call 541-773-6077 or 1-800-882-7488. Britt's office is now open 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday thru Friday at 216 West Main St. in Medford.
Britt Festivals is a non-profit organization that presents and sponsors performing arts and supports those activities through on-going education and audience development programs and through cooperation with educational, civic, cultural and governmental organizations in Southern Oregon. In addition to maintaining a formal education program, Britt honors its mission through the engagement of the world's top performers in classical music, dance, jazz, blues, folk, bluegrass, world, pop and country music.
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