Donation Event Celebrates Launch of Fidelity FutureStage® Music Education Program
RALEIGH, January 27, 2009 – Fidelity Investments and the North Carolina Symphony are working together to unveil Fidelity FutureStage, a new music education initiative designed by Fidelity to support and strengthen music programs in local public schools, and to provide unique opportunities for student musicians to explore and develop their individual talents.
To celebrate the program kickoff, Fidelity and the North Carolina Symphony surprised the students of Eastway, Underwood and Washington Elementary Schools and Chatham Middle School with the donation of brand-new musical instruments valued at over $50,000.
More than 400 music students, teachers and administrators were treated to a special performance at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, featuring Symphony musicians John Ilika, Principal Trombone; Rachel Niketopoulous, Horn; Dennis De Jong, Trumpet; Don Eagle, Trumpet and Mike Kris, Bass Trombone. As a surprise conclusion to the event, the new instruments – including cellos, string bases, violins, violas, clarinets, bass clarinets, alto and tenor saxophones, turbanos, steel drums, timpani, a 3-octave set of choir chimes, and bass, alto and soprano xylophones – were revealed on stage and presented to the music directors and students of the recipient schools. In total, 40 instruments were donated to the four schools.
“By providing these new instruments, Fidelity FutureStage will give more of our local students the opportunity to explore their musical interests,” said Kyle Rose, vice president and general manager of Fidelity Investments’ North Carolina regional site. “Learning to play an instrument and participating in school music programs can help young musicians build valuable skills that will serve them well, not just performing onstage, but throughout future stages of life.”
Fidelity and the North Carolina Symphony worked with The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing musical instruments to the most underserved programs, to evaluate and identify the needs of each school, and to facilitate the purchase and delivery of the new instruments.
Eastway Elementary (Durham), Underwood Elementary (Raleigh), Washington Elementary (Raleigh) and Chatham Middle School (Siler City) were selected to participate in the new program following careful evaluation of the schools’ music education needs and administrative dedication to their programs. All four have passionate, committed music educators in place to support the Fidelity FutureStage initiatives and foster well-rounded students with appreciation of the arts.
In effort to provide meaningful, authentic experiences and instruction, Fidelity FutureStage will provide student musicians from the four participating schools a number of special opportunities to interact with professional musicians, care of the North Carolina Symphony.
“We are excited to continue our partnership with Fidelity and help bring the Fidelity FutureStage program to students here in the Triangle,” said Grant Llewellyn, music director of the North Carolina Symphony. “The Symphony has a long tradition of cultivating and inspiring young musicians, and this program will help us continue those efforts, both onstage and in classrooms.”
For the duration of the spring semester and starting again at the start of the 2009-10 school year, Symphony musicians will visit the classrooms of each of the Fidelity FutureStage schools, providing one-on-one and group instruction. On select occasions, additional members of the Symphony will visit the schools to host special master classes focused on individual disciplines. The program will also coordinate field trips for students to attend rehearsals and concerts at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts – for many, their first time experiencing a professional orchestra performance.
Fidelity FutureStage was developed by Fidelity Investments to support music and other arts education programs in local communities. The program grew from the company’s long-standing commitment to arts and culture including its support of many of the nation’s leading symphonies, Broadway productions and community arts organizations. Fidelity launched the Fidelity FutureStage theater education program in New York City during the 2006-07 school-year and following that success, turned its efforts to developing a complementary music initiative. Fidelity FutureStage music programs are underway in Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and now North Carolina.
About Fidelity Investments
Fidelity Investments is one of the world’s largest providers of financial services, with custodied assets of over $2.5 trillion, including managed assets of over $1.2 trillion as of November 30, 2008. Fidelity offers investment management, retirement planning, brokerage, and human resources and benefits outsourcing services to 24 million individuals and institutions as well as through 5,500 financial intermediary firms. The firm is the largest mutual fund company in the United States, the No. 1 provider of workplace retirement savings plans, the largest mutual fund supermarket and a leading online brokerage firm. Fidelity maintains two area investor centers, in Durham and Charlotte. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit www.fidelity.com. North Carolina employment opportunities can be viewed at www.nc.fidelitycareers.com.
Fidelity FutureStage is a community arts education initiative of Fidelity Investments.
Fidelity FutureStage is a registered service mark of FMR LLC.
About the North Carolina Symphony
The N.C. Symphony is part of the Department of Cultural Resources, a state agency devoted to the protection and promotion of North Carolina’s arts, culture, and heritage. For more information about Cultural Resources and its 2009 theme, “Treasure N.C. Culture,” visit www.ncculture.com.