Music Connection is ready for another successful year of connecting students and music together!
For over 12 years the Napa Valley Education Foundation’s Music Connection program has been equipping student musicians with quality musical instruments to begin their musical journeys in the Napa Valley Unified School District (NVUSD).
The Music Connection will serve an anticipated 500 students this school year with brass, woodwind, and string instruments. In addition this year, Director Robin Hampton looks forward to serving over 2,000 students that will attend camps, clinics, and festivals created and developed through networking with NVUSD music teachers and other professionals.
The NVUSD is proud to have award winning, internationally acclaimed high school bands and choirs. However, students do not arrive in high school able to perform at such a high level; it takes great teachers collaborating with students from elementary school through high school. The Music Connection is there in support of teachers and students each step of the way. Music is an integral part of a child’s education, enabling students to excel in all areas of their school careers while acquiring skills that can produce success in every aspect of their lives.
Napa Valley Unified School District’s Superintendent Dr. Patrick Sweeney recognizes that “our children are learning the beauty of music at a young age thanks to the tireless efforts of Mrs. Hampton. Through the Music Connection she is inspiring a love of music for children”.
The Napa Valley Education Foundation has supported students and teachers in the NVUSD for over 25 years with the Music Connection being just one of its successful programs. “As the flagship program of the NVEF, the Music Connection has helped build the high quality music programs which exist across all 32 schools in the district.
By aligning itself with district priorities, the NVEF has expanded its focus to include programs which meet the most pressing needs of all 17,700 students,” states Ruth Matz, NVEF President. Over the past two weeks, NVEF programs Change 4 Kids and Backpacks for Kids have supplied teachers and students at every school site with needed essential supplies.
Plans are also underway for the 2nd Annual Middle School Leadership conference that brought green and sustainable changes last year to every middle school in the NVUSD.
Even with the expectation of supplying over 500 students with instruments, the Music Connection expects to turn away up to 200 students this year due to lack of inventory. Contributions from our community, Community Projects, Community Foundation of Napa Valley, have helped to close the gap, but donations are always welcome.
Please contact the Napa Valley Education Foundation at 707-259-8565 for more information or to make a donation at or visit their website at nvef.org.