Dear Friend of the Bear:
At Blue Bear School of Music, these words of Confucius
and the Fab Four ring so true:
- From the giggly pre-schoolers drumming on
everything in sight in our Little Bears program;
- To the thirteen-year-old whose violin class has morphed
into Electric Guitar Ensemble and who suddenly "likes school";
- To the once-shy teenager taking his first onstage bass solo;
- To the pharmacist by day, rocker by night, grooving on her
Richie Sambora strat with a Line 6 Spider II amp;
- Oh yeah, to all those baby boomers coming together as a
garage band for the first time, and sounding really, REALLY good!
At Blue Bear, we get it: this is just the kind of pleasure
that we cannot do without, and it's what we have been offering
aspiring musicians of all ages and skill levels in the Bay Area
for 36 wonderful years. We are the primary destination for people
in our community who want to enjoy learning and playing Rock,
Popular, Folk, Blues, or Jazz music. Blue Bear School of Music
is a place where learning and playing popular music is fun and
affordable, where people come together who love music, and where
each student's unique talents and goals are recognized and supported.
It is great and rewarding work, what we do at Blue Bear, but it
takes a lot of people and time and effort to do it, and that is why
we're writing to you today: to ask you to help "Feed the Bear" with
your tax-deductible contribution.
We figure you're like most people we know: you love music,
you've been there, you know what it's like to pick up an instrument
for the first time (or after years of something else getting in the way),
or write a tune that sounds pretty good, or just to lift your head and
sing. Blue Bear's quality music education programming has, since our
founding as a non-profit community music school in 1971, helped more
than 25,000 students achieve their artistic, personal, and professional
goals for voice, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, bass, drums,
horns, songwriting, bands, and ensembles. Even more: they have gained
confidence and the pride of accomplishment – and had major fun doing it!
Blue Bear currently has 1,700 members enrolled in small group
classes and private or semi-private lessons each year, learning to
play everything from rock to jazz to bluegrass and beyond. And to
ensure that this educational experience is accessible to people from
across the economic spectrum, we provide scholarships by audition for
talented young musicians and "sliding scale" pricing to all those
with financial need.
Beyond our studios (at Fort Mason Center and South of Market), we're
also working with public school kids seeking to discover their inner
rocker. The STAR Program – Schools That Aspire to Rock – provides
more than 100 students at James Lick Middle School with lessons,
practice sessions, performance opportunities, access to professional
musicians, and more. This year we're expanding the STAR program to serve
students at Rooftop Alternative School – all part of Blue Bear's
commitment to revitalize music education in San Francisco public schools.
This is Blue Bear: motivating people, young and old, to make music a
part of their lives, inspiring them to live their dreams. We are
absolutely dedicated to reaching out to our community and to making
this unique brand of music education affordable for anyone who is
motivated to play or sing or craft a song.
But this means that only 80% of the cost of our programming is
covered by tuition and other earnings. The rest has to come from
contributions, and well, that's where you come in: we simply can't do
what we do, spreading the joy of music-making in our community,
without your support.
Your tax-deductible gift of $100, $50, or whatever you can afford,
to the "Feed the Bear" Campaign will enable Blue Bear to
continue its long tradition of quality music education and
affordability for all.
Please click here to donate,
and be as generous as you can possibly be.
From all of us for whom music is "just the kind of pleasure that
we cannot do without," thank you, thank you, in advance, for
Feeding the Bear! You rock!
Sincerely,
|
|
Kevin Marlatt
Executive Director |
Dennis Criteser
Program Director |
P.S. While we're quoting great sages, here's one from a Blue Bear
student who picked up the guitar after a life-threatening experience
caused her to re-examine her priorities, big-time: "Life is too short
to let those dreams pass you by." We couldn't agree more. You can
help us help people throughout our community fulfill their dreams of
making music just by making your tax-deductible contribution to our
Feed the Bear cCampaign. Confucius also says, "He who gives best, gives soon"
(or something like that), so stop what you're doing and send your donation
today! Thanks again for your support!
P.S.S. Giving is contagious so please forward this link,
http://www.bluebearmusic.org/feedthebear,
to your family, friends and colleagues and encourage them to "Feed
the Bear" too. |
