Louisville Public Media (LPM) announced today that it has received a $130,000 grant from PNC Foundation to fund music education initiatives and programming over the next three years. The funding will enable expanded education outreach to young people, helping foster and develop active participation in the arts through music.
“PNC shares with LPM the recognition that music and arts education is integral to the development and well-being of school-age children, and this reality fuels our joint commitment to expand access to high-quality educational resources to young people throughout Greater Louisville,” said Kristen Byrd, PNC regional president for Louisville. “We look forward to continuing our support for LPM’s delivery of music and arts education programming that is fun and relevant for children, valuable to educators and caregivers and offered at no cost to community organizations, families and schools.”
The grant will help to support the production of three more seasons of The Music Box podcast, which PNC Foundation has funded since the podcast’s inception. The Music Box is an interactive music education podcast for children, exploring fundamental music concepts through performing, responding and connecting. Each episode engages listeners in making music and offers printable lesson plans for educators. The podcast has been downloaded more than 386,000 times. Its 8th season, hosted by music educators Kiana Del and Fiona Palensky, is slated to be released this fall.
“Through our continued collaboration, we will provide hands-on learning opportunities that promote appreciation of music and the arts, provide opportunities for cross-discipline learning, and enrich the lives of young people in our community,” said Stephen George, Louisville Public Media president and CEO. “PNC has been a longtime supporter in this work, and we’re excited to continue growing music education access in the coming years.”
The funding will also help support the LPM Instrumental Partners program, which has donated thousands of refurbished musical instruments to aspiring musicians in need over the last 20 years.
Additionally, LPM will revamp and relaunch the Young Artist Showcase (formerly Young Artist Competition), which will take place in spring 2024. The showcase presents the opportunity for young music-makers and rhythm-shakers to exhibit their unique connection to music through performing and live recording, with a chance to earn a stipend to be put towards musical enrichment.
About PNC Foundation
The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group (www.pnc.com), actively supports organizations that provide services for the benefit of communities in which it has a significant presence. The foundation focuses its philanthropic mission on early childhood education and community and economic development, which includes the arts and culture. Through PNC Grow Up Great®, its signature cause that began in 2004, PNC has created a bilingual $500 million, multi-year initiative to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life.
About Louisville Public Media
Louisville Public Media (LPM) is an independent, community supported not-for-profit corporation serving our community with three distinct public radio stations, and an investigative unit: 89.3 WFPL News Louisville provides local, national and international news, public affairs and cultural programming; 90.5 WUOL Classical Louisville is our city’s only classical music radio station; 91.9 WFPK Independent Louisville showcases independent, alternative music and an array of musical genres; and the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting (KyCIR) shines the light of accountability on the people and institutions in power. Louisville Public Media is also a proud member of the Kentucky Public Radio Network.