ASCAP Grant Strengthens IC/FDA Music Partnership

The ASCAP Foundation in New York City has awarded Ithaca College a $12,000 grant to support the music program this year at the Frederick Douglass Academy, a public high school in Harlem with which the College has formed a partnership.

The two institutions have established a number of programs during their four-year relationship, including a music component focused on jazz and electronic/computer music composition. This fall, however, the academy found itself unexpectedly without a music instructor. The ASCAP grant, by supporting a series of spring and summer instructional sessions conducted by School of Music faculty and students, will help to maintain the FDA students’ musical skills until a new instructor is hired. It then will provide a base of support for the new teacher.

"This grant comes at a critical time for these young music students, because they are anxious to return to regular music instruction," says Patricia Tempesta, partnership director and interim coordinator of the Center for Teacher Education. "ASCAP funding, combined with strong support from School of Music faculty and music education students, will keep music alive at FDA in this interim period."

Grant activities were kicked off with a weeklong workshop held at FDA during the College’s winter break. School of Music faculty members Steve Brown and Tim Nord, along with a group of music students, gave presentations and performances in classes and also provided individual instruction to FDA students. A highlight of the workshop was bringing together the members of last year’s FDA jazz band for a series of early-morning practice sessions. Those sessions culminated in an impressive short performance on the final day of the workshop.

The ASCAP Foundation is dedicated to nurturing the music talent of tomorrow, preserving the legacy of the past, and sustaining the creative incentive for today’s musically gifted through a variety of educational and professional programs and activities. Members of the ASCAP Foundation Advisory Board include Marvin Hamlisch, Quincy Jones, Tania Leon, Wynton Marsalis, Stephen Sondheim, and Stevie Wonder.

School of Music faculty members Steve Brown (left) and Tim Nord spent part of their winter break participating in a weeklong workshop at the Frederick Douglass Academy in Harlem. The workshop was part of a program of music instruction supported by a grant from the ASCAP Foundation.

photo provided by the Center for Teacher Education