Funding will support the 2021 Young People’s Concerts
The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra announces that it has been selected by The Pabst Steinmetz Foundation to be one of the six organizations included in their 2021 class of grant recipients. After reviewing applications from across the United States, the Foundation’s Board of Directors chose to award grants to five non-profits and one university, including the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. Grants have been awarded to:
- Americans For The Arts
- Bethune-Cookman University School of Performing Arts and Communication Department of Music
- Opera Orlando
- Orlando Science Center
- Simply Amazing
“Part of our vision with the Foundation is to support organizations upping their game and creating accessibility,” said Margery Pabst Steinmetz, Co-Founder of The Pabst Steinmetz Foundation. “We believe this of the Orlando Philharmonic. The board saw potential in the Orlando Phil’s proposal to take the model of a youth concert with an education curriculum and expand it virtually. We are especially proud of the great work happening in Florida and seek to showcase such great innovations in the arts throughout our state and beyond. Support from the Pabst Steinmetz Foundation will help the Orlando Phil in taking the Young People Concert to scale and create a program model to be sustained and expanded. Because of the quality of the music, the Orlando Phil is poised to have a broad and meaningful impact in exposing youth to classical music.”
This year the Pabst Steinmetz Foundation Board placed special emphasis on funding new programming, or programs in their early stages. The Orlando Philharmonic’s grant will support the production of a virtual edition of the 2021 Young People’s Concert (YPC). Traditionally held at Bob Carr Theater for over two decades, in 2020 the program was transitioned to an online performance due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This was the first time the program had been made available virtually. Thanks to a partnership with Orange County Public Schools, over 71,000 students tuned in from across Central Florida in homes and classrooms. Offering the program online allowed for expanded viewership, including a classroom in Atlanta, Georgia that was able to experience this world-class performance. You can learn more about the 2020 YPC here. The Orlando Philharmonic hopes that funding towards the 2021 program can help expand it and increase access to music and the arts for children.
“We’ve learned so much in this unprecedented season,” said Paul Helfrich, executive director of the Orlando Philharmonic. “We were very pleased with our first-ever virtual Young People’s Concert. So even as we look forward to a return to an in-person presentation of the concerts, we will continue offering a virtual edition, to expand our reach and allow even more children to experience a fun and engaging presentation of great music. We’re very grateful to the Pabst Steinmetz Foundation for making this possible and supporting our work!”
To read the full Press Release from the Pabst Steinmetz Foundation, and view all 2021 award recipients, click here.