Sinfonia Link Up Challenge to Fund Carnegie Hall Music Program for Area Students

The Sinfonia Gulf Coast Board of Directors has issued a “Link Up” donation challenge to the community. Through December 31, the board will match up to $5,000 total in new contributions. Funds will assist in covering the costs of bus transportation for the nearly 2,000 confirmed students, venue fees and orchestra costs associated with the organization’s collaboration with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute (WMI).

Sinfonia Gulf Coast is one of 57 orchestras nationwide invited to participate in WMI’s Link Up program during the 2013-14 season. Link Up pairs orchestras across the country with schools in their local communities, inviting them to learn about orchestral repertoire through a yearlong hands-on music curriculum.

“Sinfonia’s participation in this prestigious national program is a testament to our continued work to provide music education to the communities that we serve’” stated Sinfonia Board President Nancy Cottle. “The Sinfonia Board supports this project financially and hopes that the community will as well for the future sustainability of this endeavor to serve the students of our region.” 

The culmination of the yearlong program is a live performance on May 2, 2014, in which nearly 2,000 third graders from Walton and Okaloosa Counties will sing and play the recorder along with Sinfonia Gulf Coast. 

Carnegie Hall’s Link Up has engaged hundreds of thousands of students since 1985. Sinfonia’s music education outreach has reached more than 37,000 school children in Okaloosa and Walton Counties and more than 750 families have been provided tickets through the Students4Free initiative.

For more information or to make a contribution, please go to www.SinfoniaGulfCoast.org or call (850) 269-7129.