The D’Addario Foundation, a nonprofit solely funded by the world’s largest maker of instrument strings, will continue its rich tradition of funding music education at one of its 250 partner programs around the globe by giving a young student a scholarship to attend the prestigious Crown of The Continent Guitar Workshop & Festival in Bigfork, Montana from August 30th- September 6th.
The student selected, sixteen-year-old Lily McAndrew, comes from the Rock to the Future MusiCore program in Philadelphia. The Rock to the Future program is a 501(c)3 organization that provides music education to local underserved youth at no cost to them or their families. Using music, their programs ignite passion and creativity while supporting academic achievement and improving self-esteem in their students. Rock to the Future’s mission is to inspire youth to not only be creative and learn music, but also to build positive skills that transfer into academic performance and social life.
Founded in 2010, Rock to the Future has grown from serving 13 students to over 300. The D’Addario Foundation took a chance on the new and promising program five years ago and has supported Rock to the Future since its inception. D’Addario’s funding and in-kind donations of strings, picks, tuners, cables, and drum accessories have been essential to the program’s successful growth over the past half-decade, according to Jessica Craft, Executive Director of the Rock to the Future.
Suzanne D’Addario, Executive Director of the D’Addario Foundation, elaborated on the decision by noting:”It was very important to us as an organization to choose a student that has really dedicated him- or herself to music in spite of the fact that he/she may not have the means. Lily has shown incredible determination and passion. We are hoping that an experience like this will really inspire her in her pursuit of music and beyond.” David Feffer, Chairman of the Crown of the Continent Guitar Foundation commented, “We are thrilled to be partnering with D’Addario to support our mutual commitment to young guitar artists and look forward to Lily joining us for what we hope is a life changing week of learning and mentoring with some of the finest guitarists and instructors in the world”.
The Crown of The Continent Guitar Workshop is an intensive weeklong instructional guitar program and music festival dedicated through it’s scholarship program and partnerships to playing a significant role in developing the next generation of leading guitar artists. Seventy-nine guitar students attended in 2014, and this year’s festival will include appearances by Dweezil Zappa, Brett Dennen and legendary jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour. More information here: www.crownguitarfest.org
For over 30 years, D’Addario has donated $10 million to The D’Addario Foundation to support over +250 music education programs worldwide including NYC’s 92nd Street Y, Manhattan School of Music, Midori and Friends, Education Through Music and more.
