Project Grant

Musicians will have an opportunity to participate in a musical ensemble that is close to their community and will have a chance to meet other musicians in the process. They will continue to play their instruments during the summer (a time of year that can get busy and result in less playing of instruments unless there is a scheduled time for playing to happen). Participants will have become a little better at performing their instruments and will have gained confidence in their ability. Our effort is targeted towards young musicians, and with improved ability and confidence, should follow increased familial support. It is very common, on concert night, to see multiple generations of family gathered around the performers in the high school lobby, and often these "clusters" merge. The best measure of this achievement is overall satisfaction of participants for the course, questions regarding "encouragement and enjoyment". Our final concert, free and open to the public, is held at Monticello High School's Performing Arts Center. The school is located in the middle of Monticello, has a free and easily accessible parking lot, and the PAC is large, comfortable, and accessible to all. This is a very significant arts event for Monticello and parents of musicians and other individuals with district attachments respond. For our 2022 concert, the community education staff sent out an e-mail advertising the concert to all school families, which may have been responsible for the large audience we experienced. Families remained in the commons area for some time after the concert, conversing and, hopefully, reviewing the musical experience.; About 80 learning musicians will meet for rehearsal seven times and then meet finally to perform a free public concert. We measure outcomes in two ways. First is a weekly attendance of who was present. High rehearsal attendance suggests that we are successful in matching music difficulty and instruction presentation to our students' needs. We also have musicians fill out a post-program evaluation in Google Forms, which is what we submit a sample of. Both sets of data are reviewed as the next year's program is being developed. We particularly look (and listen) for comments on music difficulty. We want the program to be challenging at times, yet create an enjoyable and rewarding playing experience.; We will take attendance and conduct an on-line course evaluation after the program ends.