MUSIC
EDUCATION
ACCESS
My sister and I co-founded an annual event to raise money for music education access for all kids. We're in our third year. So far we've raised about $10,000.
CONSERVATION
AND
CREATURES
I believe music can inspire awe, raise awareness, foster empathy and spark action toward endangered species and conservation efforts.
JOIN THE CAUSE
To grow up studying music is a gift - one that every child deserves.
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I believe that every single kid should have access to music education and an instrument. I reminisce about my first piano lesson with my teacher Anne Madison ( 29 days after my 5th birthday). I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I never would have had my first piano lesson. I believe playing, making, hearing, studying, creating, and thinking about music makes life so fun and exciting.
That sense of excitement is only part of the story —music education also has a profound impact on how we learn, think, and grow. Countless studies have proven that it positively affects the brain, improves mental health, and builds life skills. That’s the purpose of Music Marathon 4 Music Education — to give all kids access to the power of music education.
Music Marathon 4 Music Education is an event where continuous music is performed for five ore more hours. It’s run by a 10-member board of student musicians, and together we’ve raised about $10,000 for the String Sprouts program — which provides instruments and lessons to children at little to no cost to their families.
Over the past century, animals have been going extinct at alarming rates. Biodiversity is more threatened than ever before.
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Endangered Menagerie is a multidisciplinary arts and conservation initiative that uses modern classical chamber music, education and outreach to tell the stories of endangered species.
The piece is comprised of eight movements: The Salt Creek Tiger Beetle, The Axolotl, The Ocelot, The Wolverine, The Loggerhead Turtle, The Piping Plover, The California Condor, and The Christmas Island Pipistrelle. Each movement tells the story of a different endangered animal (except for the Pipistrelle, which is extinct).
Endangered Menagerie is a call to action that weaves together music and storytelling; inspires empathy and awareness; and unites conservation, creativity and curiosity to protect what is fragile and vanishing.
Visionaries making music education happen for all kids in their communities.
Collaborators in the Endangered
Menagerie Project
MM4ME raises money for the String Sprouts program in Omaha, NE.
Inspiring Visionary:
Ruth Meints
"It is such an exciting prospect to think of the life-changing journey that a person will take as they learn to play an instrument, igniting creativity, making millions of new connections in the left and right hemispheres of the brain, and experiencing the pure joy of music making."
- Ruth Meints
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Ruth Meints is the executive director of the Omaha Conservatory of Music and founder of String Sprouts. String Sprouts are FREE violin, viola, cello, and bass classes that aim to bring music education to children ages 3 - 8 in underserved areas in the Omaha-Council Bluffs metro area and beyond.
Photo by Bill Garwood
Movement IV:
The Wolverine
The Wolverine Foundation, Inc. was formed in 1996 to promote interest in the wolverine’s status and ecological role in the world wildlife community. It is an international non-profit foundation comprised of leading wildlife scientists knowledgeable in the life history, ecology, and management of one of the least understood and most fascinating creatures on earth.
Movement V:
The Loggerhead Turtle
Loggerhead Marinelife Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit sea turtle research, rehabilitation, education, and conservation facility located on the Atlantic Ocean in Juno Beach, Florida.
Inspiring Visionary:
Joseph H. Conyers
"When feeling powerless to make change in the world, start by sowing your own seeds of goodness for the future. You can make a difference.” - Joseph H. Conyers
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“By viewing the world through the lens of music, young people can learn the value of hard work, gumption, grit, and determination.”​
- Joseph H. Conyers
Joseph H. Conyers, acting associate principal bass of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and founded the nonprofit Project 440. Project 440 uses music as a tool to engage, educate, and inspire young musicians, providing them with care and life skills to become tomorrow's civic-minded, entreprenurial leaders.
Photo by Nancy Arehart / The Peregrine Fund
Movement VII:
The California Condor
The Peregrine Fund, founded in 1970, works to conserve birds of prey worldwide by preventing extinction, protecting habitats, addressing threats, and engaging people. They began breeding Condors in 1993, and, in 1996, established their release program at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona. They have re-established a free-flying population now numbering 100+ condors from the Grand Canyon into Utah.
Movement I:
The Salt Creek Tiger Beetle
Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium has built a vigorous program of scientific investigation. Their work is intended to have a global impact through numerous projects and collaborations in conservation programs, placing great emphasis on student and professional training, technology transfer and research in the conservation of endangered species.
Inspiring Visionary:
Stanford Thompson
“To me, I think it’s pretty simple. Successful adults, they have developed these very important skills of focus and hard work. I’m a little bit biased, I think it can be beautifully accomplished through music.”
- Stanford Thompson
Play On Philly was founded in 2011 by Curtis Institute of Music graduate Stanford Thompson and Philanthropist Carole Haas Gravagno, and now celebrates over a decade of providing high-quality music education at no cost to underserved students in Philadelphia. POP has grown from our flagship Music Center at St. Francis de Sales School to now serving students at 5 locations across Philadelphia. We strive to engage the entire community through partnerships, community events, and performances in venues across the Philadelphia region and beyond.
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Photo by Ben Masters
Movement III:
The Ocelot
The East Foundation seeks to operate an efficient and sustainable ranching enterprise where healthy rangelands support livestock production and wildlife populations. Privately owned working lands are the most important reservoirs for remaining populations of most endangered species. The management of these species is complex, and while they document life history and population dynamics of species, they also work to develop informed strategies to ensure their persistence and recovery in concert with a working landscape.
Movement VI:
The Piping Plover
Upper Peninsula Land Conservancy promotes healthy ecosystems and communities by providing permanent legal protection and ecological management of conservation lands by engaging the public in the protection and enjoyment of these lands. They aim to promote healthy natural ecosystems – including clean water, wildlife habitat, and recreation opportunities – for generations to come.
