Monday, December 08, 2008

Music To My Ears

Because I am such a philanthropist (read: I donated a clarinet that had been sitting in my closet for about 30 years to GMU's Instruments in the Attic program), Tim and I received tickets to the GMU Christmas Concert last night at the Performing Arts Center on campus.

We were also invited to a reception beforehand, which was also attended by University President Alan Merten and his wife. From there, we walked over to the Performing Arts Center for the concert.

This is the first year for Instruments in the Attic. I was one of about 35 people who have donated since it began (in September). So, I got my name in the program, and then the program sponsor gave a nice speech on stage and asked for those of us who donated and were here tonight to please stand up -- and then gave our names (only 5 of us went to the concert). So in the sold-out concert hall, I got to stand up and be recognized personally.

The attention-seeker in me found this to be pretty great.

And it really is a great program...every music major at GMU has to be proficient in 16 (not a typo) different instruments in order to receive his or her degree. Of course, this means they have to rent instruments or find ways to purchase them in order to practice, which can get prohibitively expensive for a student.

If you have any instruments you're not using and want to help a college kid (especially since so many GMU Music Majors go on to teach music in DC-area schools), this is a great way to do it.

2 comments:

Ri. Short for Maria. Not pronounced like the bread. said...

Hmmmm...I've got a thirty year old flute around here somewhere...

Brutalism said...

Donate it!!! Seriously...I never knew this old stuff had any value. As long as it is in pretty good condition, the music department can fix it up and it can mean a world of difference to one of these students!