The Athfest Educates! Program was created as an extension of AthFest’s mission of providing music and arts education. This program provides several different services including lunchtime performances that reach every student in a school, classroom enrichment performances which can support the standards, interactive musical performances in after school programs, community centers, home schools and summer camps, and support during educational enrichment clusters during the school day. During this school year AthFest Educates! Programs enhanced the learning experiences of over 7000 students in Athens and the surrounding areas.

AthFest Educates! also furnishes new and refurbished instruments and supplies to students in need through on-going fund-raising and instrument drives. During 2011 AthFest Educates! purchased violins, violas, and cellos and donated them to the UGA String Project in order to establish a permanent lending library. The UGA String Project supports music education on many levels. Participants include 2nd to 5th grade students who are learning orchestra instruments as well as college students who are earning credits toward their Orchestra Education degrees.

Participants in the UGA String Project are currently using instruments provided by AthFest. These students will be showcased at a performance at Hodgson Hall on May 2nd at 5 PM. They will also perform on the KidsFest stage at AthFest.

AthFest Educates! Programs are supported by continuous fundraising, which includes AthFest, the Athens Half Marathon, AthFEAST, grants, sale of autographed guitars, and benefit concerts. This year we were honored to have George Winston donate proceeds from a concert to AthFEAST Educates! Programs and to receive a grant from the Athens Area Community Foundation.

AthFest Educates! is currently working to expand their programs to include visual arts and will sponsor an art contest during KidsFest at AthFest this summer. Requests for support or to become involved can be submitted for consideration through our website http://athfest.com/education

Put down those pots and pans next Tuesday, April 12! Eat out at the following restaurants to benefit the educational programming at AthFest, Inc. Dine at any of these restaurants and a portion of the proceeds will go to AthFest Educates! which provides programs to educate and inspire children through music and art.

Breakfast: Mama’s Boy

Lunch: Mama’s Boy, DePalma’s Downtown, Buffalo’s Southwest Café

Dinner: Ciné and The National Dinner&Movie Combo, Speakeasy, DePalma’s Downtown, Buffalo’s Southwest Café

Come support AthFest and these delicious restaurants to help local music education.
See you all there!

A big thanks goes out to all of the participating restaurants: Mama’s Boy, DePalma’s Downtown, Buffalo’s Southwest Café, Speakeasy, Ciné, and The National.

B52s sign Gretsch Guitar
Members of the B52s sign a guitar donated by the Gretsch Foundation to be used for fundraisering for AthFest Educates! The band graciously agreed to pen their signatures backstage prior to their 35th Anniversary Concert at the Classic Center in Athens on February 18th. The guitar will be sold in the near future to benefit AthFest educational programs including AthFest InSchool, AthFest AfterSchool, and Keys for Kids. Detail on the sale of the guitar will be posted on the AthFest website soon.

Cindy Wilson, Kate Pierson, AthFest Director Jared Bailey, Keith Strickland, Fred Schneider

George Winston (photo credit: Joe de Tufo)

Grammy Award Winning solo pianist GEORGE WINSTON will perform at The Melting Point in Athens, GA, on Sunday, March 6th at 7:30 P.M. 100% of the net proceeds from the show will directly benefit AthFest Educates! Tickets are $30.00 in advance and $35.00 day of show and are available at http://www.meltingpointathens.com/ Due to the intimate nature of this show, food and beverage service will end at 7:15 PM and resume during the intermission only. The doors will open at 5:00 P.M. This show is sponsored by Flagpole.

George Winston is best known for his seasonally themed recordings including Autumn, December, Winter Into Spring, and Summer as well as Linus & Lucy-The Music of Vince Guaraldi and Night Divides the Day-The Music of the Doors. In his career, George has performed over 4,000 shows, which include renditions of his most beloved solo piano works in the three styles he uses: melodic folk piano, New Orleans R&B piano, and stride piano. He also performs some of the late Vince Guaraldi’s Peanuts soundtrack pieces as well as performances on harmonica and Hawaiian slack key guitar, the name for the beautiful solo finger-style guitar tradition, unique to Hawaii, which began in the early 1800’s. In February of 2010, George released a new solo piano album, Love Will Come-The Music of Vince Guaraldi Vol 2, a collection of a wide range of Guaraldi interpretations, on Sony Records.

In 2008, AthFest Inc. formed the AthFest Education Committee, now known as AthFest Educates! with the goal of sharing the wealth of Athens’ rich musical talent, knowledge, and expertise with local students in the Athens Clarke County school system. AthFest Educates! was created to not only educate, but to inspire, at the elementary and middle school levels and to provide instruments to children in need. AthFest Educates! brings accomplished local musicians directly into the schools to perform and to interact with the students. The AthFest Educates! program Keys For Kids aims to provide much needed repair for instruments already in the school system as well as furnishing new and refurbished instruments and supplies for students who otherwise might not be able to afford such items through on-going fund-raising and from bi-annual instrument drives.

Patrons may bring instruments to the show on March 6th donate to Keys For Kids. They will be provided with a receipt for tax purposes.

AthFest, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to music and arts education. Proceeds from AthFest, the annual festival held each June, the annual Athens, GA Half Marathon, and sales from the AthFest Compilation support year-round efforts in music and arts education.