Yamaha Donates Keyboards to New SFCM Afterschool Program

Yamaha Corporation of America and Music Exchange have donated 16 Yamaha portable 88-key keyboards and accessories to a new San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) afterschool music education program.

Funded by the Koret Foundation, it will launch in the summer of 2018 and will comprise core offerings of individual and group piano instruction, basic music theory, individual singing lessons and chorus. A public concert at the church on Sunday, May 6, introduced the afterschool music education program to the public.

“We are deeply grateful to the Koret Foundation and inspired by their investment in this initiative to bring music to underserved communities in the Bay Area,” said David H. Stull, president at SFCM. “This partnership demonstrates the enormous potential we share as organizations when we collaborate on reaching critical goals, such as advancing the education of our children. We look forward with excitement to the future.”

A 16-instrument Yamaha digital keyboard lab will be placed in two classrooms at the church. Reverend James Smith, artistic director for the Third Baptist Church, will offer piano instruction to students at the church, as well as singing lessons and choir rehearsals with piano accompaniment. With these instruments, students may work on their skills individually – using their headphones – and may also collaborate with each other and perform in duets or groups.

“Yamaha and Music Exchange are literally right in our neighborhood, and our relationship is ongoing, so when we approached them, they were very generous about making this contribution,” said Gloria Kim, vice president, external relations and artistic operations for SFCM. “Everyone involved came together to invest in the future of San Francisco.”

“Our involvement with this program to inspire young students to learn to play music is consistent with our global dedication to music education,” said Dan Rodowicz, national sales manager, Yamaha Institutional Solutions Group. “We are pleased to partner with San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the interfaith community to launch this dynamic initiative to reach underserved youth.”