FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 20, 2013 CONTACT: Wayne Wilkins, Director of Marketing & Communications 401.248.7024 / wwilkins@riphil.org THE VICTORIA ALVITI MUSIC FOUNDATION PROVIDES MUSIC EDUCATION FOR OVER 1,000 CRANSTON CHILDREN Cranston s Arlington School hosts announcement: Tuesday March 26, 10:00am March 20, 2013 EAST PROVIDENCE, RI: Over 1,000 Cranston children will benefit from a year of school-based music education, thanks to the Victoria Alviti Music Foundation s $18,000 grant to the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra and Music School s FLEX (Foundations in Learning Exploration) with the Phil program. As part of this grant to the FLEX program, every student in the Arlington Elementary School will attend the Philharmonic s Link Up Education Concerts, along with over 10,000 students from all over our region. The announcement will take place Tuesday March 26 at 10:00 am at the Arlington Elementary School in Cranston, at 155 Princess Avenue, Cranston, Rhode Island. The Students of Arlington will host the press conference along with Principal Michelle David and Cranston Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Judith Lundsten. 2013 is the Philharmonic s second season with Link Up, developed by Carnegie Hall s Weill Music Institute. Providing instruments, curriculum materials and professional development, Link Up culminates in concerts at Veterans Memorial Auditorium where students play along with the Philharmonic. In 2012, seven thousand students from sixty schools attended four concerts. Ten thousand are expected this year, at six concerts on April 9, 10, and 11. The Victoria Alviti Music Foundation honors the memory of a visionary young woman from Cranston. In 2011 Victoria Alviti told her mother and sisters that she was deeply concerned about music programs being eliminated from public elementary schools. Victoria's passion was music at a very early age, said Sharon Alviti. She asked us how she could start a foundation to keep music in schools. A week later she was killed in a car accident. After her tragic accident I knew we had to make her dream a reality, Alviti said. When the family learned of the Rhode Island Philharmonic s goal to provide quality music education to every elementary school student in the Ocean State, the Foundation made a donation to FLEX with the Phil with the goal to fund every elementary student in Cranston. The Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School is instrumental in keeping Victoria's name alive, and her family is eternally grateful for that, Sharon added. The entire family attended 2012 s concerts and will volunteer at next month s concerts. Last year at the education concert a little girl sat behind me, singing at the top of her lungs, she recalls. She tapped me on the shoulder, pointed to Annette Mozzoni who was on stage singing with the Philharmonic, and said I want to be just like her when I grow up. It brought tears to my eyes. This is why we are doing this: to keep music in the schools and to give every child a chance to feel like a star.
We re honored by our partnership with the Alviti family, said David Beauchesne, executive director of the RI Philharmonic Orchestra and Music School. Our goal is to provide ongoing access to quality music education opportunities for every elementary student in the state. A robust elementary school music program will pay off at every level: it will create demand for existing programs in middle and high schools, encourage administrators and parents to advocate for music in our schools, and improve academic achievement across the board. The Philharmonic has been presenting education concerts since 1946, said Annette Mozzoni, Director of the Music School. Performed by the full Philharmonic Orchestra at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Providence, these concerts are the first introduction, for many students, to music played by a large group of people on many different instruments. Our partnership with Carnegie Hall takes these concerts a big step further: Link Up unites the classroom with the concert hall, in a curriculum aligned with national standards for music learning. FLEX with the Phil is designed in consultation with Rhode Island teachers and administrators to complement existing in-school programs, while making use of the distinctive resources of the Orchestra and Music School. Its three components are: 1. Listen Up: a five-year music listening program based on curricula that have been successfully implemented in elementary schools throughout the United States and Canada. Five-minute musical selections chosen from the work of thirty composers spanning four centuries are repeated daily for a week. Each is preceded by informational scripts whose aggregate provides both a foundation for the experience and a stepping stone for further exploration. The program requires a minimum of teacher preparation and direction: schools receive five years of scripts and recordings, as well as professional development and assessment tools. 2. Link Up: Designed by Carnegie Hall s Weill Music Institute, the Philharmonic provides recorders and workbooks for third, fourth and fifth graders, and a hands-on curriculum that teaches the basics of music and music making through performance and creative work. Aside from music literacy, the curriculum includes interdisciplinary lessons with historical and cultural context, and a math exercise where students "score" melodies based on intervals. When students attend the culminating concert, they bring their instruments and become members of the orchestra not just for the finale, but for 75% of the concert. 3. Phil Up: Customized for each school s needs, artist residencies and ensemble workshops will complement existing music programs and infuse music across the curriculum. FLEX with the Phil benefits the community, both now and in the long term. Students gain basic music literacy; singing and/or recorder proficiency; exposure to symphonic music tradition; and increased interest in music and the music-making process. In the big picture, said Mozzoni, in-depth involvement in the arts leads to stronger academic achievement, higher graduation rates, loftier career aspirations, and greater civic engagement particularly in underserved children. Teacher success and job satisfaction are strengthened, as well.
Link Up has already changed lives, impacting students at a key point in their development: I have never seen or played with an orchestra like the RI Philharmonic Orchestra, and I know that the experience will never get lost because I will remember it for the rest of my life, wrote one student. Another confessed: I would go back to fifth grade just to go to such a wonderful concert again! ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School is the largest fully integrated orchestra and music school in the United States. Our mission is to enrich and transform Rhode Island and our region through great music performance and education. 2012-2013 is the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra s 68th Season, Music Director Larry Rachleff s 17th with the Orchestra. The season includes an eight-concert Classical Series with a roster of worldrenowned guest artists. Our Amica Rush Hour Series offers an early start time 6:30pm on four Fridays. These shorter, informal, accessible classical concerts feature repertoire from the Saturday Classical concerts. Our four Open Rehearsals offer audience members insight into the collaboration between the conductor, guest artists and orchestra musicians as they prepare for the upcoming classical concert. Special events include the perennial holiday favorite Handel s Messiah with the Providence Singers. Resident Conductor Francisco Noya conducts our Education Concerts and our Summer Pops Concerts. Now in its 25th year, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School serves 1,500 children, youth and adults every week with lessons, classes, ensembles and community partnership programs, and an additional 13,000 students annually through partnerships, residencies, education concerts and in-school performances. Ensembles include five youth orchestras, two wind ensembles, eleven jazz ensembles and many chamber music ensembles and the RI Philharmonic Community Orchestra for adults. Information is available at www.riphil.org/musicschool.
TICKETS AND DISCOUNTS TICKETS FOR ALL PHILHARMONIC CLASSICAL CONCERTS may be purchased 24/7 on the Philharmonic website: riphil.org/tickets. Tickets and subscriptions may also be purchased at the Philharmonic box office at 667 Waterman Avenue, East Providence, by phone (401.248.7000) or in person Monday Friday 9am 4:30pm. On Open Rehearsal and Rush Hour Fridays, ticket sales are also available at The Vets box office, from 2:00pm until showtime. On Saturday concert days, tickets are available onsite at The Vets box office in person from 3:30pm until showtime, or by calling 401.248.7000. Ticket prices for the Saturday Classical concerts range from $15 to $100 for adults with discounts in selected areas of the hall for full time students and groups of 10 or more. Friday Amica Rush Hour tickets range from $15 to $48, with the same discounts as Saturday Classical concerts. Tickets for Open Dress Rehearsals are $12. Student rush for Saturday Classical concerts: at 7:30pm, if there are tickets remaining, a full time student presenting a student ID may buy one ticket for $12. There is free parking for all Philharmonic concerts at designated lots along Smith Street. The Philharmonic provides a free shuttle bus to and from the parking lots before and after the concerts. Please note: Due to construction at the Vets, Park Street is closed between the Providence Place Mall and Avenue of the Arts, and allows single lane northbound traffic only between Avenue of the Arts and Smith Street. Drop offs for patrons who need assistance can be made by pulling into Avenue of the Arts from Francis Street.
UPCOMING RHODE ISLAND PHILHARMONIC CLASSICAL CONCERTS JEREMIAH AND THE GREAT (SYMPHONY): On Saturday March 23 at 8pm, Music Director LARRY RACHLEFF and the Orchestra welcome mezzo soprano SUSAN LORETTE DUNN as soloist for Bernstein s Symphony No. 1 (Jeremiah). The program includes Schubert s Symphony No. 9 in C major, D.944 (The Great C Major) and the world premiere of Greg Fritze s Waterplace Park. An Open Rehearsal will be held on Friday March 22 at 5:30pm. BEETHOVEN S FIFTH!!!: On Saturday April 13 at 8pm, Music Director LARRY RACHLEFF and the Orchestra perform an all Beethoven concert featuring Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, op. 43, Symphony No. 1 in C major, op.21 and the ever popular Symphony No. 5 in C minor, op.67. There will be an AMICA RUSH HOUR performance of Beethoven s Fifth, along with a side by side performance with RIPYO, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Friday April 12 at 6:30pm. THE RESURRECTION SYMPHONY: On Saturday May 4 at 8pm, Music Director LARRY RACHLEFF and the Orchestra conclude the Classical season with soprano ILANA DAVIDSON, mezzo soprano SUSAN PLATTS, and the PROVIDENCE SINGERS in a performance of Mahler s Symphony No. 2 in C minor (Resurrection). An Open Rehearsal will be held Friday May 3 at 5:30pm. ###