Yamaha Joins Forces with Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation to ‘Share the Gift’ of 22 New Keyboards with Dale Jr. High School

Yamaha Joins Forces with Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation to 'Share the Gift' of 22 New Keyboards with Dale Jr. High School

L to R: Paul Calvin, vice president/general manager, Keyboard division, Yamaha Corporation of America; Jodi Urquidez, band director, Dale Jr. H.S.; Tricia Steel, program director, Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation; Martha Key, choir director, Dale Jr. H.S.; Dennis Cole, director of humanities, Orange County Department of Education; Lorena Moreno, principal, Dale Jr. H.S.; Dr. Susan Stocks, director, Special Programs, Anaheim Union High School District. Courtesy photo.

BUENA PARK, Calif. – Yamaha Corporation of America, in partnership with the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, presented students and teachers at Dale Jr. High School in Anaheim, California, with 22 new Yamaha keyboards to help support music education programming at the school.

The presentation event, which took place on February 16, 2017, celebrated the culmination of the Yamaha "Share the Gift" campaign to help underfunded music programs throughout the United States.

Yamaha Vice President and Keyboard General Manager Paul Calvin, along with Tricia Steele, program director for the Studio-City based Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, personally delivered the keyboards during a music class at the school.

This donated fleet of instruments will offer students the opportunity to practice their musical skills every day, rather than taking turns practicing a couple of times a week, as they had previously.

"Yamaha believes in the transformational power of music, so it is gratifying to contribute to the success of the music program at Dale Jr. High School," said Paul Calvin of Yamaha. "With ready access to high-quality musical instruments, these students will not only accelerate the mastery of their musical skills, but they will also have a greater opportunity to enjoy the proven social, emotional and intellectual benefits that music education provides."

As part of its decades-long commitment to music education and charitable works, Yamaha placed a rallying call to music makers everywhere, asking them to join its "Share the Gift" campaign to support music education in schools throughout the U.S. during the 2016 holiday season. The campaign encouraged musicians of all levels to create a short video of themselves playing one of 15 classic holiday songs on either a Yamaha piano or keyboard, and then posting it to Twitter or Instagram.

For every video that was posted with the hashtag #YamahaShareTheGift, Yamaha committed to donate a keyboard (up to 300 total) to the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, who are committed to providing the musical instruments to underfunded music programs nationwide, giving economically disadvantaged youth access to the many benefits of music education. 183 qualifying videos were submitted on Twitter and Instagram, meaning 183 total keyboards will be donated to schools throughout the country. Watch some of the submissions at http://4wrd.it/ShareTheGift.

"We're thrilled to work with the Yamaha team this year to give a big boost to Dale Jr. High's stellar music program with this keyboard donation," said Felice Mancini, president and CEO, Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation. "Yamaha created a meaningful way for fans to express their holiday gratitude and share the joy of playing music to others. We're happy to have chosen the schools to receive this bounty of exceptional instruments, that will be played by students for generations to come. Well done, Yamaha!"

Since its founding in 1887, Yamaha — the world's largest manufacturer of musical instruments — has maintained a devotion to inspiring creativity through the power of music, and has remained deeply dedicated to charitable works to promote education, arts, health and human services, and community development. The centerpiece of the company's mission is the preservation and excellence of musical tradition, while creating innovative new products, technologies and education programs.