July 16 (Bloomberg) -- The next Bruce Springsteen may have the original to thank.
Music for Youth, bolstered by a Springsteen tribute concert that raised $150,000 for the foundation, is giving $350,000 to 14 music education programs for underprivileged students in New York City.
Springsteen, who grew up and lives in neighboring New Jersey, made a surprise appearance at the Carnegie Hall concert in April and sang ``The Promised Land'' and ``Rosalita'' with guest artists such as Ronnie Spector and Pete Yorn. Springsteen also donated an unspecified amount to Music for Youth, a division of UJA-Federation of New York.
``Bruce's philanthropy and his music are a beacon to people,'' said Jon Marcus, Music for Youth's director. ``They respect him as artist, and the performers were just thrilled to pay tribute to his music.''
Among the programs receiving $25,000 grants are the New York Pops' Salute to Music, which provides free Saturday music lessons to 125 junior-high school students; the Harlem School of the Arts, which helps needy music students attend college, and the Young People's Chorus of New York City.
The Bloomingdale School of Music, Bronx House Jewish Community Center Music School, Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy and Opus 118 Harlem School of Music also will receive money.
``This grant really helps support a program that's costly to run,'' James Johnson, executive director of the New York Pops, said in an interview. Johnson said the money will cover about a third of the $75,000 needed to provide weekend classes this year.
Scholarships
Opus 118 Harlem School of Music provides after-school instruction in voice, violin, guitar and piano to about 150 children. Philip Willis, the program's executive director, said the grant will fund scholarships for students who can't afford to pay $1,000 for the lessons.
``There's virtually no one here who is paying full price,'' Willis said in an interview.
Music for Youth, founded in 1995, is trying to fill the gap left by the cutting of music classes in public schools. In the 2001-02 school year, about 75 percent of third-graders in U.S. urban areas received weekly music instruction, down from about 85 percent when they were first-graders, according to a U.S. Department of Education study published in 2006.
``Schools choose not to offer music because they don't understand how important music education is,'' said Charles Feldman, Music for Youth's chairman and vice president of writer-publisher relations at BMI, which represents composers and publishers. ``If children learn how to play a musical instrument, it helps their cognitive ability.''
Music for Youth receives support from leading record labels, including Arista, EMI and Capitol.
To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Cole in New York at pcole3@Bloomberg.net .
