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The quote on the homepage of Savannah Friends of Music website is a testament to the passion that this place has for music. “After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” –Aldous Huxley

This school shares with us the same kind of concern for the cutting of funds that has been plaguing our school systems around the country, localized for Savannah.

Their website states, “Our fund-raising efforts provide music scholarships for children to be able to take lessons with the instrument of their choice, support for the AASU Youth Orchestra, opportunities for high school students to attend summer music camps, and educational programs in our schools.”

Schools can apply for grants and scholarships to help continue to provide a place for the arts to thrive. Their primary concern, it seems, is the funds cutting in schools. This drives them to do things like visit schools and put on puppet shows  that show how an orchestra is, well, orchestrated.  They also sponsor music events to spread exposure of music to the community. Their website is packed and updated with what they are actively doing above and beyond their goals, complete with pictures!

• Contact Savannah Friends of Music
• Get Involved with Savannah Friends of Music 
• Donate to Savannah Friends of Music

Continue reading »]]> Howdy guys and gals! So, we had a pretty awesome time in Spokane, WA. First of all, it was Robin’s bday so of course we had to have some party times. We were lucky to have some extra free time before the show so we got to go to a local park. There was a merry-go-round, a gigantic radio flyer wagon, and water fountains.

We took pictures everywhere and Ashton bought a bouncy ball that he bounced around the entire park. After that we headed to the venue where we set up to get ready to play. Before playing we had some yummy appetizers for more celebration of Robin’s big day.

 Playing in Spokane was awesome. The crowd was really fun, but my favorite part of the night was this crazy dancing guy who played our tambourine through the entire set lol. He was hilarious, and a great dancer.

All in all we had a great time playing there although things were a little crazy after the show… Yara’s purse was almost lost for good and I think there was a mishap with the van keys but that typically happens. We’ve just been living it up out here and Spokane was just another great night.

Emma

Continue reading »]]> Jake’s Music is the more familiar name of the Jake McGuire Savage Foundation. This is nonprofit organization, though based in Washington D.C, does a tremendous amount of work in the Charleston area.

It was started by Jake’s family after Jake’s death from cystic fibrosis. Though Jake’s life was woefully short his love of music was a powerful and prominent fixture. He dreamed of having a music career and after his death, Jake’s family established a foundation in his name to help other young people achieve this same goal.

Through donations, Jake’s Music brings free after-school music lessons to inner city kids, age 7-18, and helps fund larger ensemble programs, such as an after school string ensemble and jazz group for Sanders-Clyde Elementary and Middle School in Charleston, SC. They even bring in established musicians to teach and perform with students like jazz saxophone prodigy and piano player Oscar Rivers, who worked with kids of Jake’s Music to play at the Piccolo Spoleto Music Festival this year.
If that’s not enough they have a super cool Board of Advisors that includes the likes of jazz sax superstar Branford Marsalis and hardcore/post-punk innovator Ian MacKaye!

They are always looking for music teachers, instruments, and donations for their continued philanthropic activities.

• Ages 7-18
• Jake’s Music is a non-profit organization
• Classes and ensembles are held year round at various location in both Charleston and D.C.
• Address – Jake McGuire Savage Foundation 1700 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Suite 600 Washington, DC 20006
• Phone – 202-262-7536
• Web- http://www.jakesmusic.org/index.html
• Donations – You can donate and learn more about getting involved by going to: http://www.jakesmusic.org/involved.html

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The First Coast has an incredible program available for kids of all ages that is dedicated to serving the Jacksonville, FL community by helping to provide music education for it’s youth. The Jacksonville Children’s Chorus was established in 1995 and is still going strong thanks to a grant from The Wachovia Foundation as well as personal donations (see info below) and corporate sponsorships.

They have different choral programs offered depending on the child’s experience/age and you can even listen to some of the kids’ recordings on their website!

For more information on how you can become a sponsor or get your child involved in JCC, please visit their website, email them at info@jaxchildrenschorus.com, or see the additional info below!

• Ages – pre school – 18
• JCC is a non-profit organization
• Classes and choirs are offered year-round
• Address – Jacksonville Children’s Chorus, 225 E Duval St, Jacksonville, FL 32202
• Phone – 904.353.1636
• Web – jaxchildrenschorus.com
• Donations – make check payable to above address or email info@jaxchildrenschorus.com for more info on how you can sponsor an event.

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Hey all you rabbiteers!! We’re are officially halfway done with our journey and have successfully been to the farthest point away from home that there was on the tour (which was Bainbridge Island, WA). I wanted to take some time to talk about an amazing experience we had in Portland, OR a few days ago. Our friend, Boaz Frankel, invited us to visit a summer camp that he had attended as a kid. Its name is Willowbrook Arts Camp and it was one of the most magical places I had ever been to, no joke. It is a summer camp that is set up with a whimsical design – in a park with many, many tents set up all over. Each tent has its own theme (such as poetry, theater, photography, basket weaving). The kids at the camp can choose whichever tent they want to go to and they are allowed to go to multiple ones throughout the day. We got to play a show for all of the kids when we first arrived. Let me tell you, that was really exciting to do because there were about 400 kids watching us perform! They were all so happy to see us play too, it was truly awesome. Our new videographer, Mike Marshall, caught most of them on tape so that was very lucky.

After the show the real fun started and we got to actually hang out at the various tents ourselves. I did something I never thought I would actually do and wrote a poem on the fly at the interpretive dance tent and read it aloud so that two guys at the camp could act it out for me! At first I was really scared to do that but then I kind of just dug into my gutsier side and went for it Ashton and Yara actually did an interpretive dance to Ashton’s original poem and that was completely awesome. After that, Robin and I went to the basket weaving tent and wove a little coin basket for the van. We dubbed it our special friendship basket. One of the funniest parts of the day was when we all participated in a Boaz original creation which was dubbed “the fun run”. It was where you dropped everything else you were doing at a certain time during the day and everyone just runs like a madman around the grounds. It was absolutely hilarious to see everyone doing this, and I myself tried to tag along but I have to tell you… I am not nearly as in shape as I thought I was. It is quite hard to keep up with the cross-country-journeying Boaz and a whole bunch of young kids! So, I might need to add that Boaz filmed a documentary called “The Un-Road Trip” where he journeyed across the country using all sorts of means of transportation except a gas powered car. So, I’m assuming he’s a pretty fit guy, doing something that amazing.

After our fun filled day at the camp Boaz took us all out to get some good food at a local restaurant in downtown Portland. The food was so amazing, so that was great. I feel lucky once more on this trip. We keep meeting people who are so genuinely nice and want to help us with what we are doing. It is truly a blessing. I wish we could all do this as a career year round. I’m going to be sad when this trip ends, but for now…. Carpe Diem.

Night everyone, sweet dreams.

Emma

Continue reading »]]> Cheerio, everybody Sunday we landed ourselves in beautiful Colorado.

We ended up at the quaintest town called Palmer Lake and played at a coffee shop called the Speedtrap Coffee Bar.

We were greeted by the nicest man named Peter who owned the shop and we set up fort for our show. It turned out so well!! We gathered a crowd in the little shop and couldn’t help befriending them after the show.

Colorado is so amazing and the mountains are so gorgeous. I sat outside for a little while before we went to the coffee shop and just stared at the mountains. As you may know, us Floridians are not quite used to hilly scenery so this was a real treat.

After the show (when we were busy befriending the crowd), Ashton ran and got us some Italian food to go. We ate that a little bit later while we sat talking to Peter, and it was heavenly. I could eat that food everyday for the rest of my life, but then again I am just really obsessed with Italian food in general.

Today we stopped back by The Speedtrap for some awesome coffee and Yara (the cutest barista ever) made some for us.

She had been dying to make coffee since she hadn’t been able to on the road (Starbucks would probably not be too happy with a stranger walking in and randomly making some joe), so Peter let her get her coffee making on. After that, we were off to Cheyenny, WY!

Blog to you soon…

Emma