Students in West Palm Beach with instruments donated by the Palm Beach Symphony. Photo source: CBS 12 News.
In the December 8 CBS 12 News (West Palm Beach, Florida), Gershon Harrell reports, “Music shapes hearts, builds confidence, and opens doors to possibilities children never knew they had. On Monday, local students received that gift of music from the Palm Beach Symphony. The Symphony presented 31 instruments—27 of them brand-new —to students and educators in three Title I schools. This donation includes the milestone 1,000th instrument that has been gifted to students, educators, and schools since the Symphony’s instrument donation initiative began in 2016. ‘We’ve learned with the educational outreach that it’s really all about access,’ explains Palm Beach Symphony CEO David McClymont. ‘So, if we give the students access, whether it be receiving a brand new instrument or attending one of our free children’s concerts, performing with us in a side-by-side performance, it really changes their lives because it lets them have a perspective of what it’s like with hard work and dedication of what they can do in life.’ The [Symphony’s] 2025 Instrumental Music Teacher of the Year Award was presented to Christopher De León, Director of Jazz Studies at Dreyfoos School of the Arts.”
