August 12, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Musicians and educators from the Oregon Symphony will team up with the citizens of Baker City throughout the 2005-2006 season for the first year of a Community Music Partnership (CMP) with the city and the Baker City School District. The two-year partnership program, which recently received the American Symphony Orchestra League’s Excellence in Community Engagement Award, is the largest and most significant community engagement program offered by the Symphony. CMP funding is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and Oregon Cultural Trust, as well as portions of general Education and Community Engagement grants from the Clark Foundation, the Mike and Tracey Clark Foundation, U.S. Bank, the Regional Arts & Culture Council, individual donors and distributions from education endowment earnings.
“Baker City presented a first-class application that brought together the entire community: educators, school administrators, arts resources and local businesses,” said Vice President of Education and Community Engagement Michael Kosmala. “I’m impressed by their sense of community, common purpose and shared values.”
“They want to raise the profile of the arts,” Kosmala continued. “We want to provide them whatever resources they need to meet their arts goals, both for the school district and for the broader community.” Baker City, located in eastern Oregon 45 miles from La Grande, already has a significant number of community arts organizations and resources in place whose infrastructure can be used to build on and create new alliances both within Baker City and with arts organizations throughout Baker County. That infrastructure, combined with the readiness demonstrated in the district’s application, led to Baker City’s selection, said Kosmala.
Baker City’s foremost arts organization is the Crossroads Art Center, the only non-profit in Baker County whose sole mission is developing and fostering performing arts. The center offers classes in drama, music, dance, creative writing and a host of visual arts programs, including sculpture, watercolor and pottery. Other organizations include the Baker Community Concert Association, which hosts four to six concerts a year, including one concert featuring students from Baker High School performing with professional musicians. The Inland Northwest Orchestra presents a free annual concert in Baker City, while the Baker Community Choir also features Baker High School students in their concerts. Each year the choir also provides a college scholarship for a young aspiring singer.
The CMP allows the Symphony’s extensive roster of musicians and staff to work with students, educators, local arts organizations and business leaders in the chosen community to strengthen existing programs while integrating new arts programming into the curriculum. This year the partnership is expected to result in more than 300 music education events and activities for Baker City’s 10,000 residents, including youth and community concerts by the Oregon Symphony, while helping to establish stronger music programs for the future, Kosmala added.
“The greater community of Baker City and our youth will benefit from this tremendous partnership with the Oregon Symphony,” said Don Ulrey, Superintendent of Schools. “We are very proud of our City’s efforts to bring culture and the fine arts to Eastern Oregon. Our children attending schools will experience first-hand the talents and gifts of musicians from across Oregon.”
Communities east of the Cascades (the CMP alternates its sites east and west of the Cascades each year) with populations of 30,000 or fewer were eligible to apply; last season the Symphony began a partnership with North Bend, Ore.
“The CMP goal is to have a lasting impact on music education in Oregon’s rural communities,” said Kosmala. “The Symphony’s role is to act as a catalyst, connecting Symphony resources with the community’s existing goals for arts education in its schools. Another important component is helping the community of Baker City develop sustainability plans for the future.”
Kosmala and his department are now working with a Baker City Steering Committee to identify Baker City’s goals and to plan partnership activities. Symphony musicians are expected to begin monthly visits to Baker City in January; the orchestra concerts are scheduled for May of 2006.
