Carson elementary students to perform with new instruments

To celebrate the arrival of several new musical instruments from the $16,000 grant for music education earned earlier this year, Mark Twain Elementary School will host an Orff & Drum Music Open House at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the multipurpose room.

In January, the school announced a $16,000 grant awarded for music education. The monies were used to purchase new musical instruments including a 50-piece world drumming set, steel drums, hand chimes and various other percussion instruments.

Christina Bourne, the school’s music educator, applied for an $8,000 grant, which was later doubled through the Mockingbird Foundation, an all-volunteer nonprofit founded and managed entirely by Phish fans.

The foundation later announced 16 grants totaling $137,400 in support of music education for children at schools, centers and nonprofit organizations in 15 states.

“What better way to celebrate the arrival of new instruments than to have a performance,” Bourne said. “Nothing gets young musicians more excited about playing than hearing the sound from a new instrument.”

The grants came from Mockingbird’s 22 rounds of competitive grant-making and were enhanced by funds from the band’s own WaterWheel Foundation, which allowed the board to double three of the grant requests.

Mark Twain Elementary School’s request was one of the three where funds were doubled.

The 16 grantees were selected from 643 initial applicants who requested more than $4.4 million, far beyond the foundation’s resources. Due to the high demand, Mockingbird’s two-tiered online application process remains one of the most competitive in the nation. Each year, they’re able to fund a slightly higher percentage of inquiries, making grants slightly less competitive, thanks to the generosity of fans supporting the foundation.

For information about the award, go to http://www.carsoncityschools.com/news/archived_news_releases/2018/music_education.