Students raise money for Haiti
updated: Mar 10, 2010, 9:50 AM

Source: Granada

On Saturday, March 6, a large group of students from The Granada Music & Arts Conservatory and Santa Barbara Strings gathered at Girls Inc. in Goleta to present a check for $4400 to Direct Relief International to benefit the victims of January’s devastating earthquake in Haiti. The donation came from ticket sales to a February 13 event, Hearts for Haiti: A Young Musicians Benefit Concert. The fundraiser featured performances by more than 50 students from the two programs who were also responsible for organizing and producing the concert.

It was a particularly touching presentation in which Direct Relief board member Dr. Ayesha Shaikh received the check on behalf of the organization. Shaikh welled with emotion during poetry readings by Conservatory students and former Santa Barbara Poet Laureate and 19-year Conservatory instructor, Perie Longo, who recited a poem written by Shaikh’s daughter, a Conservatory alumna.

Sio Tepper, a 7-year Conservatory student, presented the check to Shaikh. A 17 year-old senior at Santa Barbara High School who has won numerous piano competitions, Tepper was very involved in the planning and production of the concert in which she performed a movement from Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G Minor with other students from the Conservatory’s chamber ensemble.

“I was lucky to be a fly on the wall when the kids were sitting outside conceiving of and planning this benefit concert,” said Conservatory parent Greg Pantages. “We have a stellar group of students and parent volunteers, all creatively proactive.”

The relationship between The Granada Music & Arts Conservatory and Direct Relief International stretches back two decades. Conservatory founder Lana Bodnar received the funds to launch the original Santa Barbara Music & Arts Conservatory from Patricia Halloran, a former Direct Relief board member, in 1990. This year, the Conservatory celebrates its 20-year anniversary and the 25th anniversary of the program’s end-of-year concert, the Young Soloists Showcase, which will take place on April 25.

The Granada, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, reopened in March 2008 after a multi-year renovation to become a year-round, multi-purpose venue for a myriad of performing arts, community events and arts education activity. The Granada Music & Arts Conservatory and Santa Barbara Strings are a part of The Granada’s broad Arts Ed program which serves more than 10,000 area students annually and includes the popular Yellow Bus Series, Visiting Artists Series, and Teen Project. For more information about Arts Ed at The Granada, please contact Laura Inks at 805.899.3000 or links@granadasb.org.

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Young Granada music students raised $4400 benefit Haiti earthquake victims