Media Contact:
Keith Hejna
Little Kids Rock
Phone: 973.746.8248 x 114
Cell: 201.264.9520
keith@littlekidsrock.org
Chickenfoot Guitar Legends Support Music Education in Bay Area Public Schools
Joe Satriani will deliver instruments and Sammy Hagar makes a donation to music nonprofit Little Kids Rock
SAN FRANCISCO, CA Sept. 12, 2011 — Joe Satriani decided to embrace guitar when he learned that Jimi Hendrix died. On Monday, he will share his passion with a classroom of fourth grade students who participate in Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit that transforms children's lives by restoring and revitalizing music education in under-served public schools in the Bay Area and nationwide.
Satriani, a longtime supporter and honorary boardmember of Little Kids Rock, will deliver some of the 6,800 instruments that Little Kids Rock has donated to schools in the Bay Area. Since 2002, Little Kids Rock has donated approximately $2.5 million-worth of instruments, curriculum and resources to Bay Area public schools, where they currently serve over 6,000 low-income students.
On Monday, Satriani will unveil ten new acoustic guitars, two electric guitars and amps, a Pulse 5 piece drumset with cymbals, and a $2,500 donation from his bandmate, Sammy Hagar's family foundation, which will allow Little Kids Rock to reach approximately 150 more students this school year.
"Music and art is part of life; it's part of our history," Satriani said in a previous visit to a Little Kids Rock classroom. "The responsibility really is on all of us to make art, to make music, to create our legacy for the civilization that's coming after us. I can't imagine music and art being excluded from not only the school experience, but the childhood experience."
Satriani will interact with the 4th grade Little Kids Rock students at Guadlupe Elementary School, answer their questions, and then unveil the surprise donation to the students. With Little Kids Rock's initial donation last year of ten acoustic guitars to his classroom, teacher David Gerbic has seen the success of his after-school program immediately.
"We have more kids than guitars, so they share them," says Gerbic who was trained by Little Kids Rock a year ago. "We've been running a great program with what we have; I found a single snare drum to complement the guitars, but we could do wonders with more resources."
This will not be the first time Satriani supports Little Kids Rock, whose roots are in San Francisco. In the past, Satriani has visited Little Kids Rock schools, and helped raise thousands of dollars for the organization by painting and auctioning off custom guitars.
"We are so excited to get Joe Satriani back into one of our classrooms," says Little Kids Rock founder and executive director David Wish, who was once a S.F. Bay-Area elementary school teacher before founding Little Kids Rock. "We hope that exposing these young students to one of the world's greatest guitarists will inspire them and motivate them to continue to hone their skills and work hard to become well-rounded musicians."
WHAT: Joe Satriani will deliver instruments donated by Little Kids Rock and interact with 4th graders.
WHEN: Monday, September 19th, 3pm - 4pm
WHERE: Guadalupe Elementary School (859 Prague Street, San Francisco, CA 94112)
Media Invited To Attend. Please RSVP to Keith Hejna at keith@littlekidsrock.org
About Little Kids Rock
Little Kids Rock is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization that transforms children’s lives by restoring and revitalizing music education in public schools. Little Kids Rock was founded in San Francisco in 2002 by David Wish, an elementary school teacher who had grown frustrated with the lack of music education funding at his school. Today, Little Kids Rock is one of the leading nonprofit providers of free lessons and instruments to underprivileged children in US public schools, and has served more than 160,000 students at over 1,200 schools in 25 cities nationwide. Little Kids Rock Honorary Board Members include Bonnie Raitt, Slash, Paul Simon, B.B. King, Slash, Ziggy Marley and other famous friends in the music industry. More information can be found at: www.littlekidsrock.org.
