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Organized by Asheville Music School
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Event
AMS Fundraising Dinner & Capital Campaign Launch
Wednesday, October 20th, 6:00 PM EDT
In Person
Tickets available online here: playitforward.eventbrite.com Wednesday, Oct. 20 fundraising dinner, with local chefs Jason Sellers (Plant), Mike McCarty (Lobster Trap), Anthony Cerrato (Strada), Ashleigh Shanti, and more, cooking up some chili and hearty soups, along with desserts by The Hop, local beer by Catawba, and wine by Bottle Riot and Vaso de Vino. We are launching our capital campaign Play It Forward to raise funds for our new home in West Asheville! We’ll be talking all about it at the event, showing designs, and getting everyone as excited as we are. Smoky Park Supper Club's outdoor venue The Boathouse 350 Riverside Dr #3141, Asheville, NC 28801 Wednesday October 20 6:00 PM
Story
Music benefits us emotionally, physically, mentally, and socially, and the importance of music education cannot be overstated. In children, music education can have major positive impacts on growth and development, from enhanced language capabilities and mental processing to boosting self-esteem. It helps kids improve in other areas of study too, such as math, and can make the difference between a failing student and one who thrives in school. Studying music also helps the adult brain by improving memory and delaying cognitive decline. Music is a vital piece of our humanity, and through our Play it Forward capital campaign, your support will help AMS serve a much larger community as we move into a permanent home in West Asheville!
We will be upfitting our new space and launching exciting programming that will broaden the school’s ability to impact the lives of more students. We will be developing a music production education studio, the AMS Sound Lab, in which students will learn about the technology, equipment, and techniques to create, engineer, and produce sound, beat-making, and recordings. We also aim to build a new multi-use studio for our students to learn and practice music in a group setting, furthering skills and benefits associated with teamwork.
With your financial support, this new facility will enable us to expand our reach, and to bring music education into the modern era.
The brand new AMS Sound Lab will enable us to bring music education into the modern age with a professional space for students to learn about the technology, equipment, and techniques to create, engineer, and produce sound, beat-making, and recordings. Offering opportunities to learn digital composition will allow us to better serve our students by connecting the education to the contemporary music in their lives. We’ll also be able to help students shine who may not be inclined to learn a traditional instrument. We are seeking the most generous sponsor who will help us build out this new studio and outfit it with the proper gear.
How we will return the love:
We are looking for one big-hearted supporter who is jazzed about getting the band back together, by helping fund our group rehearsal space. Learning music in a group setting, such as our Sound Education Outreach band program, has many advantages. Much like the benefits of playing sports, it takes great teamwork to learn or create a song—aspects which boost self confidence, self worth, and a sense of community. Our new multi-use rehearsal space will also enable us to create new programs, like the afterschool music program we are developing with Hall Fletcher Elementary, further expanding our ability to provide accessible music education in the community.
How we will return the love:
At our new facility, we are installing a Wall of Fame in our lobby where you or your business can be listed among dozens of music lovers and supporters. Each member of the AMS Wall of Fame will get their own plaque, to be displayed for decades to come.
How we will return the love:
Instruments can cost anywhere from $100 for a ukulele to tens of thousands for a piano. We have been fortunate to have many instruments donated over the years, which we loan out to students who cannot afford the investment or aren’t quite ready to commit to the instrument. But there are costs associated with pianos that require tuning and instruments in need of maintenance. Additionally, we are always adding to our lending library. Your donation helps us keep our current instruments in playing condition, and also lets us update and modernize our instrument library.
How we will return the love:
Honor someone you love with naming rights to one of our 15 individual Teaching Studios where our one-on-one private lessons take place, servicing up to 400 students annually. This is where bonds are formed between teacher and student and a love for music flourishes through weekly lessons. By sponsoring a Teaching Studio, you’ll be helping us do the necessary soundproofing required of a music school, where the cacophony of drums, horns, piano, voice lessons, and more happen simultaneously.
How we will return the love:
AMS is in need of furnishings such as lockers and cubbies, and we would really love to update the hand-me-down mix-match furniture in our waiting room (aka the Green Room). We will certainly accept in-kind donations of this nature, but for those willing to be Green Room Sponsors, your donation will help us in our goal of creating an appealing entry waiting space befitting of a modern music educational institution—a welcoming space that makes a great impression on everyone who enters.
How we will return the love:
PAs, microphones, cables, mesh drum heads, low-volume cymbals—we have an evolving need for musical and technology equipment. It aids in our ability to teach, lend instruments, and operate our outreach program. Gear Head Patrons will help us in our effort to keep the necessary gear and equipment on hand.
How we will return the love:
To properly upfit the new space will take tens of thousands of dollars, but every little bit helps. Our $100 donors will help us cover everything down to the nuts and bolts.
How we will return the love:
