PRESS RELEASESJUNE 2004 MAY 17, 2003 BOOMBOX CLASSROOM RECEIVES Albuquerque - Boombox Classroom, a nationally syndicated children's radio series about classical and world music, has received a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for the 2003-04 school year. Veteran classical music announcer Marty Ronish produces Boombox Classroom programs at Mountain Road Recording in Albuquerque. They air on public radio, with print materials available on the internet. Highlights this year included shows with the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and guitarist John Williams, a cameo appearance by National Public Radio's Fred Child, and a live performance by Bobby McFerrin, in which McFerrin sang a duet with Jollip, the show's beloved music monster. "When I go into classrooms, the kids all want to know about Jollip," Ronish says. "They ask why he didn't come with me, where he lives, what he likes to eat, if he's fat, whether he can really sing or not - he's definitely the star of the show. Even Bobby McFerrin takes a back seat to Jollip. I refer them to our website, where Jollip has his own photo gallery." The programs make it possible for elementary and middle school students to have a professionally taught music lesson every week, even if there is no music teacher in the classroom. "In Albuquerque, where public school elementary students get only about 9 hours of music every OTHER year, this resource is especially valuable," says Ronish, "and there are hundreds of communities like ours, where budget cuts have really squeezed out arts education." The programs are free to radio stations and school districts. "This year we had more than 200 artists on the program live," Ronish says. "153 of them were from New Mexico. Next year's programs will feature the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, members of the New York Philharmonic, composer Bruce Adolphe, Boston-based Revels, and many other wonderful musicians." Nationally Boombox Classroom runs on about 20 stations in ten states, with six more states committed for the fall. Locally they air on 89.1 KANW in Albuquerque and 90.7 KSFR in Santa Fe. They also air five times a week year-round on the internet at www.thepublicradiostation.com, which logs 100,000 listeners a month. Boombox Classroom follows the national standards for music education. Luis Delgado, Music Specialist with the APS Fine Arts Department, oversees the curriculum. The series consists of 36 half-hour programs a year, which air during the school year on KANW and can be heard year-round on KSFR and on the internet from WAMC in Albany, NY. For each program there are three age levels of activity sheets that students and teachers can download from the web, in addition to teachers' answer sheets and further activities. The website is www.sweetbirdclassics.org. "We teach kids the fundamentals of music such as rhythm, harmony, melody, timbre, and form. We also introduce them to music from all over the world," Ronish says. "Promoting appreciation of other cultures is an important objective. We integrate the music lessons with geography, science, anthropology, math, language, literature, and a lot of history." "Harlan McKosato, host of the national program Native America Calling, narrated a program about Native American music. Ghanaian master drummer Obo Addy, Nigerian drummer Godwin Okoye, and Ugandan musician Okello Kelo Sam, performed music from Africa; we then followed the trail of African music to the 'new world' and showed how it has permeated western music." Other supporters of Boombox Classroom include the PNM Foundation, the City of Albuquerque Urban Enhancement Trust Fund, New Mexico Arts, a Division of the Office of Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts, the New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities, the William H. and Lillian Dolde Charitable Trust, the Albuquerque Community Foundation, the New Mexico Department of Tourism, Bill Donald and Christin Galloway of Morgan Stanley, the New Mexico Women's Foundation, some small private family foundations, and private donors. Boombox Classroom is holding a Friendraiser on Sunday June 1st, from 11 to 1, under the tent at Sandia Preparatory School, 532 Osuna Rd. NE. It will include brunch with music by the Celtic band CYPHER. The cost is $15 for adults; children under 12 FREE. Reservations required: mronish@flash.net or (505) 250-2701. Contacts for phone interviews:
[HOME] [BOOMBOX] [CONTACT] [PROGRAMS] [RADIO] [SITE MAP] Sweet Bird Classics is a non-profit corporation designated a 501(c)3 by the IRS. |