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Boston Public Schools Receives Over 900 Instruments and Accessories Valued at Over $500K From StubHub
The gift - made possible by StubHub’s multi-year partnership with The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation - kicks off a community-wide effort to enhance music education programming across Boston Public Schools, including partnerships with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Community Music Center of Boston, New England Conservatory of Music, Zumix and EdVestors
SAN FRANCISCO (February 25, 2021) -- This week, seven Boston public elementary schools are recipients of a generous donation consisting of over 900 instruments and accessories, valued at over $500,000. The donation from StubHub, made possible by a partnership with The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, is part of StubHub’s three-year commitment to put over $3 million in music instruments into public school music programs. It also kicks off a community-wide program to enhance the district’s music education program.
“Creating joyful learning environments is a priority at Boston Public Schools. Music education has become an increasingly important part of that mission,” said Dr. Brenda Cassellius, Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools. “We are so grateful to have so many amazing partners, including StubHub and The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, who put these valuable instruments into the hands of our creative and eager students. Support from community partners like the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Zumix make our programs more resourceful and comprehensive, while reinforcing to our students our commitment to the arts, through music education and other artistic mediums.”
“We are thrilled to see our multi-year partnership with The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation continue to benefit public school music programs that need support,” said Akshay Khanna, General Manager of North America for StubHub. “We know that Boston Public Schools has been working to implement stronger music programs over the last few years and we are pleased to be a part of empowering and amplifying these admirable efforts.”
This gift acts as what is known as a “multiplier event”, indicating coordination across multiple organizations focused on strengthening the sustainability of music education through a number of unique partnerships for creative youth development, Boston Public School (BPS) music educators, and the Boston arts community. Partnership support includes:
- The Boston Symphony Orchestra is contributing by providing instrument tutorial videos made by Orchestra musicians to help the students understand how to assemble and care for the new instruments they’re receiving.
- The Community Music Center of Boston (CMCB) is providing teaching artists for band instruction at the Adams Elementary School and the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is providing teaching artists to assist music teachers at three elementary schools. Additionally, repair workshops have been provided by the local music store Virtuosity Music.
- Zumix will offer future after school instruction and is also building plans to offer the students a vacation music camp in April.
- EdVestors, a non-profit partner, has continuously helped fund the expansion of music education in the region along with professional development for the music educators.
Plus, as part of BPS arts curriculum expansion and the district’s focus on creating culturally and linguistically sustaining practices, students will be utilizing a new band method book, created by the district’s arts program, that embraces a multicultural curriculum.
The instruments, which will benefit more than 5,000 students in their lifespan, are being distributed to the schools and students throughout the winter.
“This instrument donation allows the district to broadly increase sequential band instruction in seven elementary schools where it did not previously exist,” said Anthony Beatrice, BPS Executive Director for the Arts. “The music educators have been meeting since summer to plan for both the implementation of the new band programs as well as a long-term strategic vision for the East Boston region.”
“StubHub and The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation have made an incredible investment in the Boston Public Schools music department! As a nationally recognized creative youth development center, ZUMIX is excited to partner with BPS to ensure all students have access to high quality music education. We look forward to building a music pipeline from elementary school to college, and to making Boston one of the most musical cities in the country! It will take a village to make this vision possible, and ZUMIX is proud to be part of the team!,” said Madeleine Steczynski, Co-Founder & Executive Director of Zumix.
“We’re thrilled to have our Boston Symphony Orchestra musicians collaborate with these wonderful music educators and students through the BPS/BSO partnership. There’s nothing quite as exciting as picking up an instrument for the first time, so having the opportunity to help bring that experience to life for young people in our community is an honor! We look forward to hearing these young artists in the years to come, both in their classrooms and at Symphony Hall, where they have recently performed with the Boston Pops,” said Mark Volpe, Eunice and Julian Cohen President and Chief Executive Officer, Boston Symphony Orchestra
“New England Conservatory's Community Performances and Partnerships Program is thrilled to broaden its long-standing partnership with Boston Public Schools as we contribute to the launch of this program,” said Tanya Maggi, Dean of Community Engagement and Professional Studies for NEC. “We look forward to supporting this project and its enhancement of critical access to music education for young learners in the Boston Public Schools,” added Grace Allendorf, Associate Director of Community Performances and Partnerships for NEC.
“EdVestors is honored to serve as the lead partner of the collective effort to expand equitable access to quality, sequential arts for all BPS students, known as BPS Arts Expansion. We are pleased to have so many of our arts partners involved in this instrumental music effort building on more than a decade of work, and are grateful to StubHub and Mr. Holland’s Opus for their generous investment in our young people,” said Marinell Rousmaniere, EdVestors President & CEO.
"We are excited to know that StubHub and Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation are committed to playing their parts in removing the inequities that exist for many BPS students who want to engage in music instruction. As BPS' largest outside provider of music instruction, the Community Music Center of Boston recognizes the importance of supporting students with high-quality instruments, and this gift helps to remove at least one barrier for many of them," said Lecolion Washington, Executive Director, Community Music Center of Boston.
Music education is a core part of StubHub’s social impact mission. In 2018, StubHub made a three-year commitment to put $3 million in music instruments into public school music programs from the StubHub Foundation, in partnership with The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation. Adding to a 2015 program that initially put $2M in musical instruments into over 50 public schools across the United States, this commitment brings StubHub’s total giving to a total of $5MM in instruments over the last five years.
Selected school districts are chosen collaboratively between MHOF and StubHub, with awarded schools chosen by MHOF through its established selection criteria. Interested schools are invited to inquire directly through MHOF. To learn more, visit www.stubhub.com/giving-back. Music education is seeing dwindling public and private support, with low-income school students receiving the least amount of local government funding, according to the National Center for Education. Research from The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation shows that schools with music programs have an estimated 90% graduation rate and 93% attendance rate compared to schools without music education, which average 72% for graduation and 85% in attendance.
ABOUT STUBHUB FOUNDATION
The StubHub Foundation's (a corporate advised fund at Silicon Valley Community Foundation) mission is focused on providing access for everyone, regardless of their circumstances. Access includes everything from access to the joy of live to access to the tools, resources and education to help ensure the future of live experiences. Our focus is on providing fair, equitable and inclusive access to these resources and experiences for at-risk youth. We do this by supporting local, grassroots non-profit organizations working in sports, music, arts or tech-based youth development. In addition, as a leading technology company, we support organizations working to improve access and opportunity for under-served populations through other means such as college and career readiness, technical training and education around the myriad career opportunities that exist within the technology sector and the live event industry.
ABOUT MHOF
The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation (MHOF) was inspired by the acclaimed motion picture Mr. Holland’s Opus, the story of the profound effect a dedicated music teacher had on generations of students. The Foundation keeps music alive in our schools by donating musical instruments to under-funded music programs, and providing vital services to school districts nationwide, giving economically-disadvantaged youth access to the many benefits of music education, leading them to success in school, and inspiring creativity and expression through playing music. Over 24 years, more than 33,000 instruments have been donated to 1,579 schools across the country. Visit https://www.mhopus.org for more information.
ABOUT STUBHUB
At StubHub, our mission is to bring the joy of live to fans globally. As the world’s most trusted ticket marketplace spanning 44 countries, we enable fans to buy and sell tickets to tens of thousands of events, whenever and wherever fans want to be. Backed by award-winning customer care, StubHub’s FanProtect™ Guarantee means every ticket is guaranteed valid or you’ll receive a replacement ticket of equal or better value, or your money back. Our business partners include more than 170 properties globally across the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS, WWE, NCAA, Matchroom Boxing, plus Paciolan, and Roundabout Theatre Company. StubHub provides the total end-to-end event going experience throughout the world. For more information visit www.stubhub.com.