Barry Fey, head of House of Blues (HOB) Concerts, announced today that $.50 from every ticket sold to events this summer at Red Rocks and Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre will be donated to Denver Public Schools to bolster the district’s supply of musical instruments and support music instruction. At a news conference held at Hamilton Middle School today, Fey estimated the $.50-per-ticket formula would generate $150,000 to $200,000 by the end of the summer 2002 concert series.

The $.50-per-ticket has been used by HOB’s Safe Summer Program since 1993 to fund worthy projects in the metro Denver area. This is the first time the program will support a direct effort within Denver Public Schools. “We believe that every student who wants to participate in music should be allowed to do so - and to make it an integral part of their academic life,” said Fey. “The benefits from music instruction are clear - studies have shown that students involved in music have increased attendance rates and improved achievement. We hope the donations will help greatly expand the number of students exposed to music instruction throughout DPS.”

Steve Gonzales, Manager of Arts, Music, Physical Education, and Foreign Language Instruction in Denver Public Schools, said the donation would be used for a variety of uses, including new instruments, music technology (software for creating and composing music), new music textbooks, and other needs. “This donation will provide a major infusion of music materials throughout the district,” said Gonzales. “Unfortunately, music instruction has lost ground in schools over the last decade, but this represents a major step in the right direction. Recent research and studies tell us that learning music is an essential skill that all students need to achieve in school and life.”

Gonzales said the district currently has no budget to purchase new instruments although some individual schools put money aside for instruments and sheet music. The district budget for instrument repair is just $38,000 - an amount that does not stretch very far to maintain 6,000 instruments. (The regular re-padding of a woodwind instrument runs about $200 per instrument.)

Superintendent Jerry Wartgow said money donated from House of Blues Concerts would be routed through the DPS Foundation, and that 100 percent of the donation would be spent on instrument purchases and supporting music instruction. “We are deeply appreciative and heartened by this generous contribution to students,” said Superintendent Wartgow. “This will strengthen the learning experience across the district and demonstrates a deep commitment to assisting Denver Public Schools with a critical need. We are thankful to Mr. Fey for this generous contribution.”

Currently, out of 84 elementary schools in DPS, one is staffed with a full-time instrumental music teacher, two are staffed with a half-time teacher, and two are staffed with a quarter-time teacher. Out of 19 middle schools, nine schools have a full-time instrumental music teacher; seven schools have a half-time teacher, one has a quarter-time, and two schools have no instrumental music program. The middle school at the Denver School of the Arts has two full time instrumental music teachers. All 11 regular DPS high schools including the Career Education Center have a full-time instrumental music teacher; the high school at the Denver School of the Arts has two full-time instrumental music teachers.