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Eleventh EYO Annual Fund Campaign Begins June 15
The Etowah Youth Orchestras will launch its twelfth Annual Fund Campaign, including the Named Endowment Program, on June 15. The Annual Fund Campaign began in 1996 with the creation of the Named Endowment Program. The purpose of the program is to assist in funding the educational activities of the EYO. “With the growth of the Orchestras in the past sixteen years, there is a new financial responsibility to ensure that we may continue to provide the incredible musical opportunities that the EYO has become nationally recognized for to the young people of Etowah County,” said EYO Music Director Mike Gagliardo. “Our Annual Fund Campaign continues to provide an additional source of annual income so that we may continue our current offerings and expand educational opportunities for the EYO members.”
The goal for the 2007 Annual Fund Campaign is $25,000.00. The Campaign features different levels of giving, with benefits for each level, including tickets to EYO concerts, program recognition, and the quarterly Hardin Center For Cultural Arts newsletter. Levels of giving include:
Supporter $1.00-49.00
Adopt-A-Musician $50.00-99.00
Friend Of The Orchestras $100.00-199.00
Patron Of The Orchestras $200.00-299.00
Benefactor $300.00-499.00
Conductor's Circle $500.00 and up
Contributors may also participate in the EYO's Named Endowment Program, which endows the principal chairs of each section of the Etowah Youth Symphony Orchestra. For a donation of $250.00, $500.00, or $750.00 (depending on the chair), donors may name a principal chair in honor, memory, or tribute of an individual or organization. Funds for this Program go directly to scholarship students for private lessons.
More information about the EYO Annual Fund Campaign can be provided by contacting the EYO offices at 543-2787, ext. 32.
Honda Funds EYO Electric String Ensemble
Honda Manufacturing of Alabama has awarded a grant to $10,000.00 to the Etowah Youth Orchestras to fund the EYO's Electric String Ensemble, a new ensemble that will make its debut in March of 2007. The grant money will be used for the purchase of 7 new electric string instruments from Wood Violins, the purchase of sound equipment for the ensemble, and expenses for the ensemble to travel throughout the state of Alabama to present outreach and educational concerts.
“We are honored to have the support of Honda Manufacturing of Alabama for this project,” announced EYO Music Director Mike Gagliardo. “Honda has been a tremendous supporter of the EYO programs in the past, and we are pleased that they are joining us in our vision to create this new and very unique musical ensemble.”
The idea to create the ensemble came about several years ago, when the Etowah Youth Symphony Honor Strings performed for a large event at Convention Hall. “There were so many people that you really couldn't hear the ensemble playing,” stated Gagliardo. “I thought that if there was a way to amplify the group, then they could be heard much more easily.” The ensemble began as an electric string quartet when the EYO received funding from the Etowah County Community Development Committee to purchase the first four instruments in 2005. Having met Mark Wood, the owner of Wood Violins, earlier that year, Gagliardo called on him to build the first instruments. “Everyone wanted to play them. We even used them at the EYO's 2006 Summer Strings Camp. We knew we had a great thing going.”
The idea then expanded. “'What if all of the members of the Honor Strings had a Wood instrument to play on,' I thought,” noted Gagliardo. “This could really be something special.” The grant from Honda Manufacturing will enable the EYO to do just that. “By the end of the year, we will have Wood electric instruments for every member of the Honor Strings to play, thanks to the associates at Honda.”
The EYO Electric String Ensemble will make its premiere in March of 2007, and then will perform throughout the spring, bringing music to school and other audiences throughout northeast Alabama.
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