SpreadMusicNow and Little Kids Rock Donate 2,000 Musical Instruments to Hartford Public Schools
SPOTLIGHT on EXCELLENCE October 2014
SpreadMusicNow and Little Kids Rock Donate 2,000 Musical Instruments to Hartford Public Schools

Officials from the two organizations joined Hartford Superintendent Beth Schiavino-Narvaez at 12:40 p.m. on Thursday for the inaugural drop off of keyboards, guitars and a drum kit at the E. B. Kennelly School, 180 White Street in Hartford. The event included a musical performance by the Hartford Public High School Academy of Nursing and Health Science Choir.
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By the end of the day, similar deliveries had been made to 21 more schools in the Hartford district.
Last month, dozens of Hartford Public School teachers took part in a daylong professional development training session to learn how to apply the strategies of the innovative Modern Band music program in their classrooms. The program was established through SpreadMusicNow and Little Kids Rock, a leading provider of free instruments and music instruction to U.S. Public schools. The program is expected to provide music lessons to more than 3,200 Hartford students. It also incorporates professional development training in the Modern Band curricula for 60 teachers in the next three years.
Modern Band music programs teach the popular musical styles of the past 60 years, from rock and reggae to Latin and R&B, among other genres, with a heavy focus on improvisation, composition, and getting kids to play from day one. Modern Band complements existing programs such as jazz band, choral programs, marching band, and orchestral music. Dozens of certified music teachers will be trained and equipped to bring Modern Band programming to children in grades K-12.
Little Kids Rock has pioneered the Modern Band movement, currently operating in 1,140 schools in 27 cities, having served more than 300,000 kids since 2002.

“Little Kids Rock’s mission is to give every child the opportunity to unlock his or her inner music-maker and we do that by leveraging the human capital already in the schools in order to take the burden off of school districts that already face tight budgets,” says Little Kids Rock founder and executive director David Wish, who used to teach first grade in California. “Thanks to the generous support of SpreadMusicNow and Hartford Public Schools, this dream will become a reality for the children of Connecticut’s capital city.”
SpreadMusicNow, based in Redding, supports music instruction provided through collaborations among K-12 school systems, local and national nonprofits, higher education and cultural institutions, and professional musicians committed to giving back to the next generation. SpreadMusicNow funding will support students in Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven and Waterbury this fall.
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Please contact keith@littlekidsrock.org or Jackie Coleman, the Senior Advisor for the Arts at Hartford Public Schools for more information.