‘Tis the Season for Giving!

December 2012

Dear Friend,

Founded in 1990, The String Academy of Wisconsin is in its 23rd year of training string players to reach their fullest musical and personal potential in a setting of excellence. This past year, students won competitions and performed throughout Wisconsin and across the country in addition to over 50 Academy performances.

Each year, 160 children of all ages, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds study violin, viola, and cello performance at the Academy. With careful guidance from artist faculty and parents, students engage in a challenging course of study that includes private and group instruction, weekly classes in music theory, and ear training. Along with the numerous performing opportunities, this comprehensive learning experience offers much more than simply a music education. Our students develop self-discipline and an aesthetic awareness to serve them well throughout their lives. They also benefit from the lasting social relationships with other young people who represent a wide range of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. Alumni often remark that what they learned at the String Academy is still with them years later.

The Academy regularly engages in outreach activities to identify talented children with a demonstrated need for financial support who might benefit from SAW study. We currently collaborate with several Milwaukee Public Schools. String Academy faculty give private instruction in violin and cello at these MPS schools, and the children come to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for group instruction and performances. Other deserving students are identified through our community-wide outreach efforts. Parents of these low-income students pay a small portion of the Academy’s tuition, and the rest is supported by our Urban Students in Arts Scholarship Program. Each year approximately 36 African-American, Asian, Hispanic, Hmong, Laotian, and Caucasian students receive these scholarships. The Academy must raise over $75,000 annually to support the Urban Students in Arts Scholarship Program. Know that your gift is welcomed and most appreciated!

The Arts are fundamental to our humanity. Music and children are two of life’s greatest gifts. We want to thank YOU for your continuing support of our work. Please help us in making excellent string instruction accessible to all deserving students in the Milwaukee community, regardless of their financial circumstance.

Thank you for your consideration,

Darcy Drexler,
Executive Director