Fidelity Investments and the North Carolina Symphony kicked off Fidelity FutureStage, a new music education initiative, by providing four local public schools with 40 instruments, including string instruments, clarinets, saxophones, turbanos, steel drums, timpani, choir chimes, and xylophones. The schools—two elementary schools in Raleigh, one elementary school in Durham, and a middle school in Siler City—were chosen with the help of Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, the national nonprofit that works to provide instruments to underserved children. During spring of 2009 and the 2009-10 school year, members of the North Carolina Symphony will visit school classrooms to provide individual and group instruction as well as master classes. As part of the program, students will also travel to the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh for rehearsals and concerts by the orchestra. Other Fidelity FutureStage music programs are underway in Boston, Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles.
