MUSICIANS AT PLAY FOUNDATION has been approved for a $10,000 Grants for Arts Projects award to support Masters & Mentors – Our Cultural Heritage and Film Music. This project will help students and community participants advance their musical skills, focusing on:
Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, French Horn, Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Percussion, Bass, Cello, Viola, Violin, and Piano.
Professional musicians from the Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra will rehearse with middle and high school participants in underserved communities, culminating in an online performance available to the public at no cost.
The musical focus will be on the diverse Los Angeles cultural heritage of American film music from the 1920s through the present through the music of composer John Williams and other trailblazing film music composers.
MUSICIANS AT PLAY’s project is among the more than 1,100 projects across America totaling nearly $27 million that were selected during this second round of Grants for Arts Projects fiscal year 2021 funding.
“As the country and the arts sector begin to imagine returning to a post-pandemic world, the National Endowment for the Arts is proud to announce funding that will help arts organizations such as MUSICIANS AT PLAY reengage fully with partners and audiences,” said NEA Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. “Although the arts have sustained many during the pandemic, the chance to gather with one another and share arts experiences is its own necessity and pleasure.”
April Williams – Musicians at Play President: “We are honored to be recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts and look forward to bringing joy and healing through Arts Education to our communities.”
The 10-week Masters and Mentors program will provide 60-minute live and Zoom mentoring sessions, culminating in performances by student and mentors. Hundreds of other community members will be able to listen in and ask questions at the end of the sessions. Participating students will be recruited from Los Angeles area high schools partnering with Musicians at Play.
Students will be instructed on instrumental technique, musical phrasing, interpretation, rehearsal deportment, effective practicing habits, and concert preparation. They will learn how to make decisions about tempo, tone, style, rhythm, phrasing, and feeling. In addition, each student will do a brief online interview with their mentor, asking questions MAP will help develop about the mentor’s background, approach to musical performance and studio work, and musical values.
Through live streaming as well as the recording of the above sessions, members of these communities will be provided with education about this important American art form – and the opportunities for professional employment it represents. A brief curriculum will be developed with guidance for the mentors and for the students’ teachers which will include lesson plans (e.g., on specific elements of musical performance as discussed below, the history of film music and its multicultural elements, and the film music industry and its career opportunities).
For more information on the projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.
