Contact: Colleen Roche or Kim Serafin (212) 788-2958 or GRAMMY HOST COMMITTEE Rubenstein Public Relations:Lonnie Soury, Robin Verge (212) 843-8000
GRAMMY HOST COMMITTEE DONATES $100,000 FOR NYC PUBLIC SCHOOL MUSIC PROGRAM
GRAMMY Month began today with a free concert in the World Financial Center's Winter Garden featuring GRAMMY winners Michael Bolton and Art Garfunkel, as well as the Boys Choir of Harlem, multi-platinum recording artists SWV (Sisters with Voices), and jazz pianist and singer Chantal.
"New York City is very proud to host the 39th Annual GRAMMY Awards to be held this year at Madison Square Garden. There is no better way to kick off GRAMMY Month than with this free concert for New Yorkers with Grammy winners and other top musical performers," said Mayor Giuliani. "As members of the Host Committee, Rand V. Araskog, Richard Palmese and Michael Greene have been true friends of New York City. The generous efforts of the Committee to create a $100,000 grant program for Notes for Kids and other GRAMMY programs in our schools is wonderful. Not only will this grant give children the gift of music appreciation but it will cultivate future GRAMMY winners from among New York City's school children."
Joined by Michael Greene, President of NARAS and New York City Host Committee Chairs Rand V. Araskog, Chairman and Chief Executive of ITT Corporation, and Richard Palmese, Senior VP of Arista Records, the Mayor thanked NARAS for holding the 39th Annual Awards ceremony at New York's Madison Square Garden. He also recognized the tremendous work of the New York City Host Committee in raising more than $1 million from the music industry and the more than 25 corporations which are supporting GRAMMY Month activities.
Mr. Araskog, along with Michael Greene and Richard Palmese, presented the Mayor, Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew and Board of Education President William Thompson with an oversized check for $100,000 to establish Notes for Kids, a music education, performance and instrument purchase program in elementary schools in the five boroughs. This music program is supported through contributions from corporations and all the major music groups to the New York City Host Committee.
Mr. Greene said, "We have all eagerly awaited the official kick-off of GRAMMY season in New York City. The spectacular work of the Host Committee and Mayor Giuliani will once again ensure that education and the arts will be the biggest GRAMMY winners this year."
Rand Araskog said, "The New York City Host Committee members, including some of New York's major corporate and civic partners and all the major music groups, are very pleased to support New York City school programs for music education and performance. We are also very excited to have the 39th Annual GRAMMY Awards broadcast for the first time from New York City's Madison Square Garden on the CBS network."
"We are also pleased that the Host Committee is able to support important music education programs created by NARAS and brought to New York on this occasion, including GRAMMY in the Schoolsr, GRAMMY Concert Series for Children and GRAMMY All-American Jazz Band and Choir," he continued.
Chancellor Rudy Crew said, "With the money provided today by the New York City Host Committee, a truly special elementary school music education initiative will be saved and expanded. Notes for Kids along with other music programs sponsored by NARAS, will help to ensure that music training, performance and education remain a part of the education opportunities for young New Yorkers."
Among the many music events scheduled during GRAMMY Month are:
Important music education and performance programs supported by the GRAMMY Host Committee and NARAS Foundation include GRAMMY in the Schools, a program that provides thousands of high school students the opportunity to explore careers in the music and recording industry; the GRAMMY Concert Series for Children, which exposes elementary school children to all forms of American Music Styles in an interactive setting; and the GRAMMY All-American High School Jazz Band, which showcases America's most gifted high school music talent. The Host Committee also sponsors an in-school education program organized by Young Audiences, which will visit and conduct music programs in over 20 New York City public schools. The project includes a song-writing workshop in the South Bronx with children who begin by writing the first line of a song and follow the process through to an actual recording session.
In addition, in order to raise an additional $100,000 for Notes for Kids, artist Kenny Scharf and Museums New York have donated 50 signed and numbered fine art prints.
Richard Palmese said, "The Host Committee is very proud of all the efforts undertaken to help promote music education and performance among our young people. We all want to thank the music companies and corporate partners in new York City who have been so generous with their contributions. It is these companies that have made this year's GRAMMY Awards a success even before the ceremony, thanks to Aon, Arthur Andersen, AT&T, Cablevision, Bear Stearns, Chase, Goldman Sachs, ITT Corporation, Warner Music Group, Sony, EMI, Polygram, Merrill Lynch and Planet Hollywood."
The 39th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be telecast on the CBS network on Wednesday, February 26, 1997, live for the first time from Madison Square Garden. The telecast runs from 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM and will be seen by over 1.5 billion viewers in over 160 countries around the world. Pierre Cossette is the Executive Producer.