Santigold, Toyota, VH1 'Save The Music' Present New Orleans School With Music Education Grant

Santigold Lends Her Support To 'Save The Music'

SANTIGOLD, TOYOTA and VH1's "SAVE THE MUSIC" presented LaPLACE ELEMENTARY with a grant that will fund an entire instrumental music program for the NEW ORLEANS area school, marking the first time in over a decade that it has been able to provide music education to its students.

The grant was achieved through an interactive festival activation and social media campaign implemented at music festivals nationwide including LOLLAPALOOZA, OUTSIDE LANDS, NOCTURNAL WONDERLAND, LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL and VOODOO MUSIC + ARTS EXPERIENCE. Festival attendees were drawn to a life-sized Whispering Willow tree on the festival grounds, and were asked to write what music means to them on a leaf, hang the leaf on the tree, take a photo, and post to social media with the hashtag #ToyotaGiving. For each social media post, TOYOTA donated $1 to VH1 SAVE THE MUSIC.

TOYOTA gave $30,000 total, a grant substantial enough to restore a musical instrument program for the entire school. LaPLACE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL was selected as the grant recipient for its 1,000 because it had no music education program in place. With this grant, LaPLACE was able to hire a music teacher to implement an instrumental music program that will now thrive with the instruments and equipment purchased and donated by the FOUNDATION.

At a school-wide assembly on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30th, executives from TOYOTA and VH1 SAVE THE MUSIC met with the Principal and new music teacher and previewed the new music curriculum. Genre-defying artist SANTIGOLD was also on hand to treat the students to a live performance.

"Music has given me the opportunity to explore the world and connect with people internationally,” said SANTIGOLD. “My music studies helped me turn my passion into my living and gave me the confidence to pursue my dreams and nurture my creativity. I am proud to support the VH1 SAVE THE MUSIC campaign and the students of LaPLACE ELEMENTARY in NEW ORLEANS. All of our children deserve and need music education."

"We are grateful that so many people would come together to help a school most probably haven't even heard of," says Superintendent KEVIN GEORGE. "We would like them to know that our students are making music again and we are laying a foundation that we hope will follow them throughout their lives."

« see more Net News