On Saturday, April 10, families, faculty members, and rising artists in our community music school will log on to Zoom and unite virtually for our beloved Perform-a-thon, an annual benefit for the NEMPAC Scholarship Fund. Beginning at 10 a.m., the Perform-a-thon will create an opportunity for artists of all ages and abilities to share a virtual stage and stretch themselves musically through live performance.
For those of you who may not know, the NEMPAC Scholarship Fund provides need-based scholarships to children and teenagers to ensure all youth have access to the study of artistic disciplines. One of the ways we identify need is through our school partnership programming, as we build relationships with key stakeholders to foster community awareness of our scholarship fund and the application process. Last year, we enhanced the accessibility of the NEMPAC Scholarship Fund by creating applications in Spanish and Mandarin.
In addition, we awarded $19,061 scholarship monies, the majority of which were raised through the NEMPAC Scholarship Fund, to youth in your community throughout 2019/2020. Here’s the breakdown of scholarships awarded by neighborhood for this time period:
- 50% awarded to North End youth
- 29% awarded to Charlestown youth
- 31% awarded to youth in other City of Boston neighborhoods
Our seventh annual Perform-a-thon to raise funds for the NEMPAC Scholarship Fund coincides with our 20th anniversary as your community music school and performing arts center. This organizational milestone marks two decades of NEMPAC thriving at the intersection of arts education and professional performance.
As you know, NEMPAC’s community music school nurtures rising artists through in-person and virtual education courses, private and group music instruction, as well as arts programming at area schools. Faculty members at our community music school nurture the artist inside every child and teenager waiting to be fully realized and expressed.
We’ve never seen the gap in access to arts education among youth be more pointed than it has been this past year as a result of the global public health crisis. In response to COVID-19, our faculty and staff have doubled down on our quest to ensure all children and youth are afforded the opportunity to experience the transformative power of the arts.
We created a NEMPAC Instrument Fund in the wake of school closures to provide students who would have otherwise had to pause their artistic studies with at-home access to musical instruments. We convened community members for Virtual Open Mic Nights to provide creative outlets to our musicians and performers in training. We reimagined our community music school into a virtual learning center amid COVID-19 lockdown to sustain youth arts education.
The need remains great. But with the help of community members like you, we can come together via Zoom for this year’s Perform-a-thon and secure the future of arts education for youth in Charlestown, the North End, and surrounding Boston neighborhoods.
Here are three ways you can join us:
1. Pledge a performing artist at the Perform-a-thon
On Monday, March 8, the 2021 #PledgeMe campaign for our seventh annual Perform-a-thon will commence! Our fundraising goal is $12,000. This year, we’re empowering students to create their own pledge webpages through Network for Good.
“By empowering rising artists to create their own pledge webpages, they are given autonomy over the musical journey and the personal story that is shared with the community,” said Allie Meek-Carufel, Educational Programs Director at NEMPAC. “Students are afforded the opportunity to add pictures, quotes, and more to their pledge webpages to show—rather than tell—how NEMPAC has shaped them as musicians and what their own personal journey has been like from lesson one and beyond. Every student enrolled in NEMPAC’s community music school is different and grows as an artist and an individual in a different way and at a different speed. By giving the students the chance to share their personal experience and add their own personality to their pledge webpage, we are showing our community the diversity of our student body. When a donor clicks on a student’s pledge webpage and makes a fiscal commitment to support their continued growth as an artist, they have the satisfaction of knowing they’re making a positive difference in the artistic trajectory of a specific, unique performer.”
Pledge a performing artist today by visiting our #PledgeMe campaign webpage.
2. Sponsor NEMPAC’s Seventh Annual Perform-a-thon
As we always say, 20 years of unwavering community support fueled NEMPAC’s growth from a 501(c)(3) offering piano lessons out of its founders’ homes to a community music school and professional performing arts center operating from over 15 locations throughout the City of Boston. Our generous sponsors share our vision of vibrant Boston neighborhoods where music and performing arts fill the city with creativity, spark connections, and inspire us to be our best selves.
We’re humbled by the sponsorship of the Charlestown Mothers Association and the North End Athletic Association for this year’s Perform-a-thon. Many thanks to both of these organizations for their partnership in securing the future of arts education for young people in Charlestown, the North End, and surrounding Boston neighborhoods.
If your association or company is interested in sponsoring the 2021 Perform-a-thon, please email Pamela Feo, Development Associate, at development@nempacboston.org.
3. Provide an in-kind donation of a pledge prize or raffle item
Words can’t express our gratitude to the businesses that have provided in-kind donations of Perform-a-thon pledge prizes or raffle items:
- Asana Charlestown
- Barnes & Noble
- BODA BORG
- Boston Crawling
- Boston Harbor Cruises
- Boston Organics
- Exhale
- in-jean-ius
- Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
- P. licks
- Junebug Charlestown
- Lyric Stage Company of Boston
- New England Aquarium
- Paint Bar
- Philips’ Salon
- Place Gather
- Polkadog Bakery
- Regina Pizzeria
- Rock Spot Climbing
- Shake the Tree
- TreeTop Adventures
- Union Oyster House
- Urban Adventures
If your business is interested in supporting the 2021 Perform-a-thon through an in-kind donation of a pledge prize or raffle item, please email Pamela Feo, Development Associate, at development@nempacboston.org.
NEMPAC’s seventh annual Perform-a-thon—complete with our faculty showcase and back-to-back performances by rising artists in our community music school—is right around the corner! Mark your calendar for Saturday, April 10, and consider pledging a performing artist to benefit NEMPAC’s Scholarship Fund today by visiting the #PledgeMe campaign webpage.
