PLAY US FORWARD, a collaboration that started in 2015 between ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, 
the Graham Family of Schools, United Schools Network, and Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) Columbus is again being given a PFW grant award. Play Us Forward’s goal of removing all barriers in learning how to play the violin by providing instruction and instruments at no cost to the student or student’s family deserves a BRAVO! This program was a grand success in its 2015 inaugural year! If you were at the final ProMusical concerts in May you saw some of these students on the stage playing two pieces with Vadim Guzman, Pro Musica’s Creative Partner, whose extraordinary artistry brings back to life the glorious violinistic tradition of the 19th and 20th centuries. His wide repertoire embraces contemporary music and his performances are heard around the world. What a thrill that was for these young people. Sixty middle school children not only received – AT NO COST TO THEM. their schools or families – expert instruction on learning how to play the violin. They also received a quality 3/4 to full size violin, instrument case and rosin.
This program will be continuing to provide musical instruction to urban Columbus schools which do not currently offer any opportunity for music education in their daily curriculum. This partnership was able to create a model of musical instruction that provided positive opportunities for artistic expression and overall academic enhancement for each student involved. The program allows for consistent instruction to take place weekly throughout the year, and a small class size (12-15 students) means flexibility in planning lessons and highly individualized attention for each student, leading to greater learning gains. This grant is in honor of Perry Rosenstein, President of Puffin Foundation, Ltd., who as a youth in the Bronx, NY was given the opportunity to play the violin, a violin which he still has and loves.
