ASHEVILLE - The Asheville Symphony Orchestra has launched a new financial assistance program for youth who want to take private lessons and has expanded its tuition help for students who want to play in the youth symphony, the symphony announced in a news release.
The decision to expand financial assistance came after Asheville City Schools cut its orchestra classes, then revived the orchestra as an after school club.
Tyson Hamrick, director of education and youth orchestra, told the Citizen Times Aug. 27 that Asheville Symphony leadership was disappointed by the choice to eliminate the strings program.
"We hate to see … any string program get cut, any of the arts get cut," he said.
He said that offering an after school option is better than nothing.
"If you can keep the students playing and involved as much as you can, then the hope is, when the program does come back, you're not starting from scratch," he said.
There are 185 youth who play in the Asheville Youth Symphony Orchestra, and students come from as far as McDowell and Haywood counties to play, Hamrick said.
The PLAY program
The Asheville Symphony now offers a new financial aid program called PLAY: Private Lesson Assistance for Youth. This new program is intended to help students affected by the loss of the Asheville City Schools string program who want to continue playing their instruments.
PLAY will cover up to 75% of the cost of weekly, 45-minute private lessons throughout the school year for eligible students from Asheville Middle School and Asheville High School A 45 minute lesson through the Asheville Academy for the Arts typically costs $55, Hamrick said. Students who enroll in PLAY are not required to take lessons through the Asheville Academy of the Arts, but instead can take lessons elsewhere. Membership in the Asheville Youth Symphony Orchestra is not required for students who are part of the PLAY program.
To participate in PLAY, students must meet the following qualifications:
- Be currently enrolled at Asheville Middle School or Asheville High School.
- Have previously been enrolled in classroom strings or be a rising sixth grade student who was planning on enrolling in classroom strings.
- Possess a willingness to study a string instrument with a private instructor through regular weekly lessons.
- Have a household income at or below 400% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, ($132,000.00 for a family of four) or have extenuating circumstances.*
Tuition assistance
In addition to PLAY, the Asheville Youth Symphony Orchestra has expanded itstuition assistance program.Scholarships can cover up to 90% of the tuition for the youth symphony, which costs each student $500 a year, not including the cost of their instrument.
Except for the beginner orchestra, which enrolls students who have a year of experience playing their instruments, the Asheville Youth Symphony requires an audition for a student to join the orchestra.
Kara Fohner is the Public Safety Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email her at kfohner@usatodayco.com or call her at 980-241-8671.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville Symphony offers aid to students after school orchestra cuts
