The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation Awards Grants to 24 Schools and Music Programs Across the Country

The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation Awards Grants to 24 Schools and Music Programs Across the Country

Schools Receive Instrument Donations to Help Support Music Education Programs

LOS ANGELES, May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, a national non-profit organization devoted to supporting music education announced today it has awarded instrument grants to 24 more schools across the country. The grants consisted of a variety of instruments for use by students in the schools' music programs, as well as funding for the repair of instruments.

The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation provides grants in the form of instrument donations to underserved K-12 schools, community and after-school programs as well as individual students who are financially limited and unable to afford an instrument. Schools and students can apply for a grant by going to www.mhopus.org and downloading an application, or by calling The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation at 818-784-6787.

"For nearly ten years, we have tried to put as many instruments in kids' hands as we possibly can," said Felice Mancini, executive director of The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation. "We so strongly believe in the power of music to give students a better chance to succeed and be happy in life, and we know we're making a difference. We want to support the schools and teachers who recognize the value of music for their students and are looking to outside resources to save their programs."

Schools receiving grants include: Pima Elementary, Pima, AZ; Farragut Elementary, Culver City, CA; Livingston High School, Livingston, CA; Silverlake Conservatory of Music, Los Angeles, CA; Balboa Magnet School, Northridge, CA; Monroe Elementary, Santa Ana, CA; Southern Delaware School of the Arts, Selbyville, DE; St. Paul the Apostle School, Davenport, IA; Bernadine Sitts Intermediate Center, Garden City, KS; Learning Music Program, Olla, LA; Stockbridge Sinfonia, Pittsfield, MA; Western International High School, Detroit, MI; United Oaks Elementary, Hazel Park, MI; Flint School of Performing Arts, Flint, MI; Park High School, Livingston, MT; Acoustic Wolves Guitar Group, Fernley, NV; Alexander Middle High School, Alexander, NY; St. Joseph School, Bronx, NY; Robert A. Van Wyck Middle School, Jamaica, NY; YMCA Center for the Creative Arts, Rome, NY; Spring Hill Elementary, Xenia, OH; Spaulding Middle School, Lamar, SC; Sandhills Intermediate School, Swansea, SC; and Tennessee School for the Blind, Nashville, TN.

Research has shown that the benefits of music education to children include success in society, school, developing intelligence and general success in life. Definitive links have been made between students involved in music education and their academic performance, reasoning skills, work habits and low incidence of substance abuse.

The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation supports music education and its many benefits through the donation and repair of musical instruments to underserved schools, community music programs and individual students nationwide. The organization was inspired by the 1995 motion picture Mr. Holland's Opus and was founded by Michael Kamen, who composed the music for that movie and countless others. In the last seven years, new and refurbished instruments with a value of approximately $5 million have been donated to more than 600 school and community music programs across the country. More information can be found at www.mhopus.org.

Note to editors: Quotes from each school are available at: http://www.ipressagent.com/mhof

Contact: Steve Honig
The Honig Company, Inc.
310-246-1801
press@honigcompany.com

Source: The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation

CONTACT: Steve Honig of The Honig Company, Inc., +1-310-246-1801,
press@honigcompany.com, for The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation

Web site: http://www.mhopus.org/

NOTE TO EDITORS: Quotes from each school are available at: http://www.ipressagent.com/mhof.

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