Clayton State University and The Atlanta Music Project (AMP) recently announced a joint program that will provide endowed funding for AMP graduates to continue their education with the Clayton State Music Department.
Once the endowed effort is fully funded, The Atlanta Music Project Endowed Scholarships will provide monies for graduates of AMP, a music education program in metropolitan Atlanta for underserved youth, who want to continue their music education at the university in Morrow.
The scholarship funding will be utilized for students who major or minor in music at Clayton State. There will also be monies for Clayton State students who are assisting young musicians in the AMP program. The initial gift for the endowed scholarship was contributed from an anonymous donor.
“This is an exceptional opportunity for our students,” explained Dantes Rameau, co-founder and executive director of the Atlanta Music Project. “As a member of the Sistema Fellows Program at the New England Conservatory I was inspired by El Sistema, Venezuela’s world famous music education program. I was impressed with how they connected the learning of music to the building of community. AMP’s mission has always been as much social as it is musical and now that goal can continue through Clayton State and add the opportunities that a higher education can offer into the equation of success for our students.”
Founded in 2010, the Atlanta Music Project provides intense, tuition-free music education to underserved youth in their neighborhoods. As executive director of the Atlanta Music Project, Rameau has raised more than $1.3 million for the organization and has grown programming to 115 students, 15 teaching artists, and three sites. A fourth site adding 85 new students is planned for the fall of 2015.
The Clayton State gift represents AMP’s first joint scholarship effort with a university in the region.
“As our students go through our program, we are seeing that their commitment to the pursuit of musical excellence is developing their confidence, perseverance, and ambition, all important character traits for a successful future,” Rameau reported. “We are proud and grateful to be working with the music education program at Clayton State and we know their faculty appreciate the quality of the young people enrolled in our program.”
AMP’s music program is rigorous with classes taking place after school from three to five days per week, for two hours each day.
“We have admired the work of The Atlanta Music Project organization from its inception,” said Dr. Susan Tusing, chair of the department of visual and performing arts at Clayton State. “AMP provides instruments, classes, world-class artists for students to learn from, and numerous performance opportunities. Obviously that type of student, and the kind of talent that program produces, is what every leading music program in the state is looking to attract.”
AMP classes include orchestra, choir, music theory, ear training, African drum and dance, and instruction in voice and orchestral instruments.
“AMP and Clayton State are presently actively seeking additional private funding from individuals and foundations that also believe this type of partnership represents extended hope and opportunity for dedicated students and the communities that both organizations serve,” Tusing said.
Additional informational or how to make a gift The Atlanta Music Project Endowed Scholarship Fund may be obtained by contacting Lindsay Aleshire, marketing and operations manager for The Atlanta Music Project, at 678-235-4267 or lindsay@atlantamusicproject.org.
