This marks the 6th year of Walpole Friends of Music’s mission supporting music education in the public school system. Highlights included selling Walpole Music hoodies to middle and high school students, funding cello and flute workshops by visiting professional musicians for middle school students, sponsoring performances by the Symphony Nova string quartet and Eine Kleine Konsort recorder ensemble at all four elementary schools, and purchasing a new bass clarinet and ¾ tuba for the middle schools. WFM also organized a piano donation to Boyden Elementary School, funded special teacher requests, awarded scholarships to Walpole High School seniors, and much more.
Unique to this year, Walpole High School Digital Film Making students had the privilege of working with Tony Carbone, a member of the WFM Steering Committee and assistant professor MP&E at Berklee College of Music. Mr. Carbone advised the students in the development of musical scores for their popular films shown at the annual WHS Film Festival. Mr. Carbone guided students in the creation of their compositions, which ranged from Neo-Classical to Electronic music, and assisted them with implementing music production software for use in their scores. To the pleasure of students and staff, each week Mr. Carbone generously offered his time and expertise in the creation of these soundtracks.
Walpole Friends of Music celebrated March is Music Month at the public elementary schools by sponsoring a poster contest entitled “Why We Enjoy Music in Our Schools.” Over 100 students from grades K-2 and 3-5 created amazing posters showing their love of music in Walpole. All entrants received certificates of recognition and winners were presented with a gift card for Jimmy's Pizzeria. Everyone was welcomed to a fun reception at the Walpole Public Library to view all entries. Winning posters remained on display in the Children’s Room at the library during the month of April. Many thanks to Jimmy’s Pizzeria for their generous support of this event!
These programs and new instruments for young musicians were funded in large part by the generous support of local businesses and individuals in the greater Walpole area. The Symphony Nova performances were also supported in part by a grant from the Walpole Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. Walpole Friends of Music is a non-profit, parent volunteer organization relying on music education supporters to continue providing excellent opportunities for students in grades K-12 in the public schools. To learn more, visit www.walpolefriendsofmusic.org or contact WFM at walpolefriendsofmusic@aol.com.
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