Yamaha Supports National String Project Consortium with $5,000 Grant

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Yamaha Corporation of America is pleased to support the National String Project Consortium (NSPC), with a $5,000 grant to be used at a variety of academic institutions nationwide. The NSPC is a coalition of String Project sites based at colleges and universities across the United States dedicated to increasing the number of children playing stringed instruments, and addressing the critical shortage of string teachers in the US.

Since 1998, this teacher training program has reached over 500 String Music Education students in sponsoring institutions, assisted with educating more than 400 new public school teachers and provided stringed music education for well over 8,000 U.S. children of public school age. This year, Yamaha's grant will be divided among ten deserving NSPC sites across the country.

"We are thrilled to support NSPC as it provides music-making and educational opportunities where they otherwise wouldn't exist," says Ken Dattmore, Yamaha Orchestral Strings Marketing Manager, Band and Orchestral Division. "This collaboration is sure to facilitate the growth and development of string and orchestra programs in schools nationwide."

According to NSPC Executive Director Dr. Eugene Dowdy, "The NSPC is grateful for the support of a major music industry leader like the Yamaha Corporation.  This grant not only assists ten university string projects around the country, it also helps raise awareness concerning the critical shortage of qualified string teachers nationally.  We are honored to work with Yamaha to improve the quality of string teacher preparation and enhance access to string programs around the country."

String Projects provide practical hands-on training for prospective teachers during their college years, enabling the undergraduates who teach in these programs to gain valuable hands-on experience. These programs also attract string players to the teaching profession by giving them stipends for teaching in the program. Performance majors at colleges often discover their love of teaching children as a result of their positive experiences in String Projects.

The NSPC is affiliated with businesses, foundations, professional music organizations, and individuals who support these goals. For more information, visit: http://4wrd.it/STRINGSPROJECT

 For more information about Yamaha, write Yamaha Corporation of America, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622-6600; call (714) 522-9011; email infostation@yamaha.com; or visit http://4wrd.it/YamahaUSA.