New York, NY – May 4, 2017 – WorldStrides OnStage, the performing division of the nation’s largest and most trusted educational travel organization, is proud to announce a partnership with Little Kids Rock, a non-profit empowering music educators to teach popular music like rock, pop, and hip-hop in schools.
WorldStrides plans to help spread Little Kid Rock’s Modern Band methodology by making it accessible to the 10,000+ teachers who travel with WorldStrides each year. In addition to developing and hosting Modern Band events, WorldStrides is also co-developing programs that will offer teachers professional development points and academic credit to participating students. With music education programs struggling for funds and resources, the mutual goal of partnering with teachers to provide students with opportunities to perform, grow, and learn is more important than ever.
The partnership was launched with a concert at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, April 29. (See video!) Students from Little Kids Rock gave the performance of a lifetime as a finale to the WorldStrides’ Festival at Carnegie Hall concert. Attendees of the concert were entertained by the National Youth Choir, which featured elite music ensembles from across North America and performed classical arrangements under the direction of esteemed conductor, Jeffery Ames. After the choir performance, the audience experienced a contrast of a traditional choral repertoire when modern band rockers took the stage. The NYC-based Little Kids Rock school ensembles; The Equity Project (TEP) Charter School, Juan Morel Campos Secondary School, and Amp Up NYC All Stars, blew the crowd away with a performance of the Beatles classic Hey Jude that had everyone in the audience out of their seats dancing and singing along.
Since 2002, Little Kids Rock has enriched the lives of more than 500,000 public school students by empowering and equipping music teachers to launch Modern Band music programs. Modern Band music programs focus on teaching kids popular music like rock, pop, and hip-hop. WorldStrides, an accredited school and travel organization, has advanced music education through travel with festivals and events that give student performers access to elite venues, professional adjudication and instruction, and cultural experiences that provide hands-on learning all around the world. WorldStrides’ tremendous commitment to music education led the organization to Little Kids Rock and this exciting new collaboration with a shared goal to restore, expand, and innovate music education in schools across the nation.
“Modern band complements existing music programs….It’s really natural for our organization to work with WorldStrides,” says David Wish, founder and CEO of Little Kids Rock. “There is no point for a student to be practicing and loving the music they are playing…only to play in their high school auditorium. WorldStrides will help modern bands take the show on the road.”
“Being an accredited school allows for us to offer unique advantages to the music programs and directors we work with,” notes Marion Gomez, General Manager of the Festival at Carnegie Hall, WorldStrides OnStage. “We currently travel with over 10,000 educators across the United States and it’s a great way for us to further music education and enrich students’ lives with the Modern Band curriculum.”
The concert at Carnegie Hall is just the beginning of the partnership between WorldStrides OnStage and Little Kids Rock.
###
About Little Kids Rock
Little Kids Rock is a national non-profit organization dedicated to transforming lives by restoring, expanding, and innovating music education in our schools. The organization partners with public school districts to train teachers to run its innovative Modern Band curriculum, and donates all the accompanying instruments and resources necessary to teach popular music in a way that empowers students to experience instant achievement. What began as a single after-school guitar class has since exploded into a national movement that brings free, weekly music lessons to over 275,000 public school children through the efforts of more than 2,000 teachers in 154 school districts nationwide. To date, Little Kids Rock has served more than 500,000 students.
About WorldStrides
WorldStrides, headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., is the largest educational student travel company in the United States. Founded in 1967, it has grown to provide educational programs for more than 7 million students in 100 countries around the world. It was the first company of its kind to achieve academic accreditation from regional bodies around the U.S. The OnStage division supports performing arts travel including adjudicated music festivals, bowl game and parade performances, and custom-performing tours all around the world. For more information on WorldStrides, visit worldstrides.com.