 | Celebrating the gift for musical education are (left to right) superintendent of New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Reginald Mayo; Lincoln-Bassett School principal Ramona Gatison; donor Don Roberts '57; Regina Lily Warner, supervisor of music for NHPS; Mary Roberts; and Charles Warner, director of instruction for NHPS. |
Donald Roberts, Yale College Class of 1957, has provided seed funding that will enable the School of Music to continue and enhance its efforts to embrace and promote advances in music education in public, elementary and secondary schools, Acting Dean Thomas Duffy has announced.
Roberts has given a $2.5 million gift to the Class of 1957 Music Education Endowment in the hope that his gift will encourage fellow classmates and others to support the School of Music's innovative music education and outreach programs. The ultimate goal is to raise a total of $5 million, which will provide both an endowed professorship in music education and permanent operational support for the programs.
The Class of 1957 Music Education Endowment was established in the summer of 2005 in honor of the class' upcoming 50th reunion. Members of the class agreed to focus a substantial part of their reunion fundraising efforts to create a permanent endowment for the School of Music. Funds will be used by the school to develop initiatives in music and human learning, and address issues of music education in elementary and secondary schools.
Roberts' leadership contribution to the fund will have particular impact in New Haven's public schools. Already, the Class of 1957 gift enables 18 School of Music graduate students to intern in New Haven public schools. The graduate students gain music teaching experience, a key component of their overall educational program, while the schools enjoy expanded music education opportunities such as weekly lessons and concerts.
"The Yale School of Music and the City of New Haven Board of Education have been eager partners in our class project to improve the quality of music education in public schools across the country," Roberts said.
At Lincoln-Bassett Elementary School, where Yale initially focused its existing outreach efforts, the Class of 1957 gift provides resources for teaching staff, instruments and consulting for the music program. Students at Lincoln-Bassett receive music classes four times per week. The program provides keyboard classes for students in kindergarten through second grade, choral and recorder lessons for third graders, and band and string instrument instruction in grades four through seven. The endowment both makes possible substantial support for these efforts and facilitates an expansion of the School of Music's music education initiatives.
"Part of our mission is to contribute to the advancement of music education by training musicians who can succeed as performers and composers and pass along their knowledge of and love for musical expression to the next generation. This gift will help us fulfill that mission," Duffy said.
T H I S
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