Christmas Comes Early to LA Kids: Free Music Education Program, Lands in Los Angeles

Non-profit, District, Celebrities and Others Join to Bring Music Education, Instruments and Fun to Low-Income Students

November 16th, 2004 – San Francisco, CA - Little Kids Rock (LKR) an innovative non-profit program that provides free instruments and music curriculum to children, announced today that it will begin offering services to children at more than a dozen LA schools this year. The launch begins with a free, teacher workshop that will take place from at 9:00am-4:00pm on Saturday, November 20 at Venice High School, at 13000 Venice Avenue in LA. (Media is invited to attend the workshop.) In the coming months, hundreds of students will receive free guitars and lessons as a result of the workshop.

"We are excited to be partnering with LAUSD this year," said David Wish, founder and Executive Director of Little Kids Rock. “It’s rewarding to know that our program will be taking root in one of the nation’s largest public school systems. LAUSD’s commitment to expanding arts education opportunities for their students is commendable, especially in light of all of the state’s recent slashing of school budgets.”

The new programs were made possible in part by support from the Sunlite Guitar Company who made a generous donation of instruments. “Sunlite believes that all students should have access to music education and we are proud to partner with Little Kids Rock and the Los Angeles Unified School District to make sure kids are getting what they deserve: namely music education!” says Sunlite’s President, Roger Kao.

Other support has come from high profile, music makers such as Bonnie Raitt. “I have supported Little Kids Rock for more than three years because I believe in the value of music education,” said Raitt, a member of the Little Kids Rock Honorary Board of Directors. “When I was growing up in LA, I had a guitar because my parents and grandparents gave me one. I was able to be in a school orchestra and take piano lessons. But, these days, that’s not an option for most kids – and certainly not in the inner city. By bringing Little Kids Rock to LA, we hope to provide the gift of music education to children who might otherwise not have access to it.”

Funding for the LA chapter has also been provided by a generous grant from NAMM (International Music Products Association). Located in nearby Carlsbad, CA, NAMM’s foundation funds innovative programs like Little Kids Rock that help create new music makers.

Participating LA schools include Reseda High School, San Fernando High School, Venice High School, White Middle School, Banning High School, Bell High School, Bravo Medical Magnet, Huntington Park High School, John Muir Middle, Nightingale Middle School, Marshall High, Kennedy High School, Marshall High School, John C. Fremont High School, Gage Middle School and Griffith Middle School.

About Little Kids Rock:
Little Kids Rock believes that music is a critical component of first-rate education. Many elementary schools have been stripped of their music programs. These cuts have had a disproportionately large impact on children from low-income backgrounds. Little Kids Rock restores music to its rightful place in the academic lives of kids in our public schools by providing a rich music education program including instrument instruction, free instruments and trained mentors. Founded by a single elementary school teacher in 1996, Little Kids Rock is now serving more than 4,000 students in CA, NY, NJ and TN. Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon, B.B. King, Jason Newsted and Les Paul sit on our Honorary Board of Directors and we are supported by friends Tom Waits, Carlos Santana, Phish, Bob Weir and others. More information can be found at: www.littlekidsrock.org

Note to Media: Interviews with spokespeople and b-roll available upon request.

Media Contact:
Allison Neves, PR Director
Little Kids Rock
415-948-1200
allison@littlekidsrock.org