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Durham News and Observer: Kids orchestra takes first bow

BY VIRGINIA BRIDGES

DURHAM — In September they received their small violins.

On Saturday, they stood as tall as pre-kindergartners to third-graders can and played their first public performance to a nearly full auditorium.

“Our kids already know how to read music after two months of working,” KidZNotes executive director Katie Wyatt said proudly. (more)

Springtree Territory:
The closest I’ve ever come to being part of a musical performance was carrying the bass drum on my back in a parade with a Boy Scout drum and bugle corps. The nuns at St. Bridget’s trying to put together a choir designated me a “listener.”  My grandmother who was a fan of Lawrence Welk once threatened to buy me an accordion which inspired me to try out for football. In a college music appreciation class filled mostly with jocks looking for an easy A, I got a C. (more)
The Herald-Sun: KidZNotes music program kicks off
It was the first full week of the new year, so it was fitting that I attended an event unveiling a new program for the community.

On Tuesday, I attended a kickoff event introducing a new program to the Durham area called KidZNotes. Inspired by a publicly funded education music program in Venezuela called El Sistema, KidZNotes plans to officially launch programs in east Durham in the fall. The event was held at the Cedars Retirement Community’s Clubhouse in Chapel Hill. (more)

Durham Voice: KidZNotes Introduces Classical Music Education to Kids
By Sarah Ross
It is a typical Saturday morning for more than 30 kids at the Holton Career and Resource Center in East Durham, but typical in this case is free of cartoons and lounging around. These kids have swapped those activities for violins and classical music training — and from the looks of it, they could not be happier. Through the newly formed KidZNotes program in Durham, 60 children are now receiving world-class music education and training free of charge.
News and Observer: Excited kindergartners meet their violins
BY VIRGINIA BRIDGES

DURHAM — Nearly 50 children marched into the community center’s auditorium Saturday, eyeing the shiny instruments that are intended to change their lives.

On a table in the front corner, small violins in various shades of wood, strung and displayed atop their black padded cases, awaited their new owners.

When the children were finally allowed to touch them, they made the first notes in a symphony of hope. (more)

The Durham News:
BY VIRGINIA BRIDGES
Over the next year, Kathryn Wyatt plans to learn how to use classical music to lift Durham children out of poverty.In October, Wyatt, 29, will leave her job as the North Carolina Symphony’s director of education and community engagement to participate in the Abreu Fellows Program in Venezuela and at the New England Conservatory. The fellowship will train accomplished musicians to run a program that nurtures the talent of children in poor neighborhoods. (more)