An Instrument For Every Child

A musical start to my day this morning. I attended the Community Builders’ Breakfast at Carmen’s sponsored by Volunteer Hamilton. The event opened with a highly entertaining ”American Idol” like performance by the Bishop Ryan High Express Choir. The Spec’s Howard Elliot followed with a timely keynote about the importance of volunteer perservance in creating positive community change.

I then hurried to King George elementary school on Gage N. to witness a very animated grade 1 group participating in an interactive musical performance lead capably by the Hamilton Pilharmonic Orchestra’s Neil Spalding. The kids were rivetted by the presentation and excited to be able to actually blow a french horn. The class is part of a Hamilton pilot project called “An Instrument For Every Child” based on the remarkably successful El Sistema program in Venezuela that uses music to help lift kids out of poverty. This very special partnership between the HPO and the public school board is made possible because of the tireless volunteer leadership of Astrid Hepner and the generous support of some anonymous donors.