“A group of musical young people sounded a happy note Friday afternoon, thanks to a gift of 24 violins to OrKidstra during a ceremony at Lansdowne Park,” writes Patrick Langston in Saturday’s (7/4) Ottawa Citizen (Canada). “OrKidstra is a free music program in Ottawa for those aged five to 18…. The program is run by Leading Note Foundation, an Ottawa charitable organization…. The grant to OrKidstra couldn’t have been better timed, said Tina Fedeski, executive and artistic director of the Leading Note Foundation…. ‘Up until now we’ve been playing on instruments very kindly donated by our community (but) we are expanding our program so we’ve run out of instruments.’ … Some 630 children have played in OrKidstra since flutist Fedeski, her husband Gary McMillen and former National Arts Centre Orchestra cellist Margaret Tobolowska established the Leading Note Foundation and OrKidstra in 2007…. The work of OrKidstra has taken on a special urgency because of cuts in public school funding for arts education.… Taught by folks like National Arts Centre Orchestra violist Paul Casey, the children ‘learn to express themselves in a way that’s really beautiful,’ … said Fedeski. And, she adds, they learn life skills like commitment, discipline, patience.”
Posted July 9, 2015
