Media Inquiries:

Durand Bailey | Marketing Manager | 404-668-1611 | durand@atlantamusicproject.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ATLANTA MUSIC PROJECT LAUNCHES EIGHTH YEAR OF PROGRAMMING WITH MAJOR PERFORMANCE AT MERCEDES-BENZ STADIUM

IN 2017-2018 AMP TO SERVE 300 STUDENTS THROUGH SIX PROGRAM SITES

Atlanta, Ga., September 19, 2017 – The Atlanta Music Project (AMP) launched its eighth year of programming with a performance of the American National Anthem at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in front of 70,425 attendees, the most ever for a stand alone Major League Soccer (MLS) game. The game featured Atlanta United FC, Atlanta’s new MLS team, versus Orlando City SC. The Atlanta Music Project’s AMPlify Choir, comprised of students representing neighborhoods from the City of Atlanta and beyond, performed the anthem flanked by Color Guard and Military Salute. The match was televised nationally and streamed on Facebook via Univision.

The 2017-2018 school year will be the Atlanta Music Project’s eighth consecutive year of programming, during which 300 children will be served across six program sites. AMP provides intensive, tuition-free music education to underserved youth right in their neighborhood. AMP requires no prior musical experience and welcomes participants on a first-come first-serve basis. In exchange for a full scholarship to AMP, participants must commit to attending all classes. AMP is a supporter of music in school and limits all programming to out-of-school times.

Local and national funders continue to support AMP’s mission to inspire social change by providing Atlanta’s underserved youth the opportunity to learn and perform music in orchestras and choirs. Funders who have committed to support AMP in its eighth year include Bank of America, Carnegie Hall, the Abraham J. & Phyllis Katz Foundation, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, the Chick-fil-A Foundation, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, and the Georgia Council for the Arts. Funding supports the cost of AMP’s teaching artists, instruments, concerts, curriculum, professional development, and operations. AMP continues to pursue the establishment of a headquarters space to house offices, storage, rehearsal and performance facilities. AMP’s annual operating budget for its fiscal year ending July 31, 2018 will be $914,777.

The Atlanta Music Project Orchestra program, an eight-year partnership with the City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation serving 90 students in grades 1 through 12, offers full symphony orchestra programming at three recreation centers. AMP Orchestra students rehearse six to eight hours per week on string, wind and percussion instruments. The top ensemble in this program is the Atlanta Music Project Symphony Orchestra based at Perkerson Park Recreation Center.  

Now in its sixth year, AMPlify, the choral program of the Atlanta Music Project, serves 150 students and offers an intensive choral music education with classes in vocal training, general music, composition, and improvisation. AMPlify students rehearse six hours per week. AMPlify partners with The Kindezi Schools to offer programming, and maintains a community-based performance choir based at the Zaban Recreation Center near East Lake.

Also in its sixth year, the AMP Academy provides advanced musical training to 55 of AMP’s most talented and dedicated students. Admitted by audition, AMP Academy students receive weekly private lessons with AMP teaching artists, participate in masterclasses with renowned artists and perform two solo recitals per year. AMP Academy students have been selected in Georgia’s All-State ensembles and have earned spots in summer music festivals in Los Angeles and Aspen.

Now in its third edition, the AMP Summer Series is a three-week music festival and school based in the communities AMP serves. Inspired by summer music education programs such as the Aspen Music Festival and School and the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, the AMP Summer Series is comprised of a music day camp for 150 experienced middle and high school students studying choral and orchestral instruments, and a free concert series featuring guest artists, AMP teaching artists and students.

Over 30 public concerts are planned during AMP’s eighth year. Major concert dates for the year are listed here on the AMP website.

About the Atlanta Music Project   

Founded in 2010, the Atlanta Music Project provides intensive, tuition-free music education for underserved youth right in their neighborhood. Now in its eighth year of programming and serving 300 students at six sites, AMP provides all its students with an instrument, a teaching artist, classes in Symphony Orchestra; AMPlify, the choral program of the Atlanta Music Project; the AMP Academy, providing advanced musical training to AMP’s most talented and dedicated students; and the AMP Summer Series, a music festival and school. In 2015 Clayton State University established the Atlanta Music Project Endowed Scholarships, providing college scholarship funds for AMP students. AMP’s program partners include the City of Atlanta Department of Parks & Recreation, and The Kindezi Schools. AMP is the recipient of the prestigious 2016 Bank of America Neighborhood Builders award. In 2016 and 2017 the White House named AMP one of the top 50 after-school arts programs in the nation. For more information: www.atlantamusicproject.org.

 

###