Welcome Letter 2017-2018

Thank you for visiting our website, and welcome to the new school year! The leadership committee of Friends of Music & the Arts in the Scarsdale Schools is grateful to everyone who supported us last year. Family memberships, t-shirt sales, donations made at our 1^st Winter Festival, and year-end honor your teacher donations helped us support arts education in the Scarsdale schools. In 2017-18 FMA was able to:

• Recognize the musical and artistic talents of more than 75 high school students with FMA certificates, awards and scholarships
• Provide refreshments at high school concerts throughout the year
• Honor the arts faculty throughout the district with a luncheon at the Scarsdale Public Library in the spring
• Make gifts in support of the arts to each school in the district, as requested by the arts faculty and approved by the principal of each school. A summary of these gifts is below.

Let's keep up the good work!  Please renew your support for the coming year, so that we can continue to show our students and faculty that Scarsdale parents appreciate their achievements in and contributions to the arts!  It’s easy to join online through the links on this website, or you can click HERE to print out a membership form, then mail it plus your check to FMA, P.O. Box 171H, Scarsdale, NY 10583.

And, IF YOU’D LIKE TO GET INVOLVED in our activities, please contact FMA Co-President Jeannine Palermo at jeannine.palermo.22@gmail.com. We’d love to have more parents join our team.

Wishing you all the best for a wonderful year ahead!

Jeannine Palermo and Leora Rub

Co-Presidents, Friends of Music & the Arts

FMA-FUNDED SCHOOL GIFTS, JULY 2017

High School:             Concert conductors podium
                                  Movable display boards to exhibit student work

Middle School:          2 rubber tack bulletin boards and poster frame 

                                   iOgrapher filmmaking bundle

Edgewood:                 High performance supra-aural studio headphones

Fox Meadow:             Drum for music classes and performances           

Greenacres:                Art: Light tracer, mod Podge Gloss Finish, Utility knife

                                   Music: snare drum stands, foam rubber shoulder rests,  
                                   stereo microphone for IOS devices, sand blocks                                       

Heathcote:                 Variety of drums       

Quaker Ridge:           Slab roller for clay

Honor Your Child's Teacher With a Donation

Looking for a year-end teacher gift? 

Honor your child’s teacher with a donation to FMA! 

If music, art or drama experiences were especially meaningful to your child this year, you can recognize and thank their teachers by making a donation to Friends of Music & the Arts in that teacher's name.

Funds received by FMA go back to the schools in the form of grants given each year to all 7 Scarsdale schools for arts items not covered in the regular budget.

• Make your donation via our website, www.scarsdalearts.org, or by using the form below.
• Donations in any amount are welcome! (Past gifts have ranged from $20-$100 per teacher.)
• We will acknowledge your gift with a personal note to the honored teacher on your behalf.

THANK YOU for your support!

Questions? Contact FMA Co-President Jeannine Palermo at jeannine.palermo.22@gmail.com. 

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Yes, I would like to make a year-end donation to Friends of Music & the Arts. Teacher(s) being honored:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My child(ren)’s name(s):
 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My name, address, email:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Please send this form and your check to:
Friends of Music & the Arts, P.O. Box 171H, Scarsdale, NY 10583 

To make an online donation, click on this link, or mail your check to:

Friends of Music and the Arts is a nonprofit, parent-run community organization dedicated to enhancing arts education in all the Scarsdale schools. Family memberships and donations enable FMA to: 

• provide grants to each school in the district for “wish list” items such as equipment, guest artist visits, etc. 
• support school clubs and programs such as Tri-M Music Honor Society and the National Art Honor Society
• acknowledge outstanding student achievements with awards in music, art and drama 
• provide hospitality at school concerts, plays and other events 
• host a Teacher Appreciation Luncheon to honor our district’s outstanding music and arts faculty 

Scarsdale Schools Music and Arts Roundup, 2016-17 Year-to-Date

Dear Parents,

Greetings from the Friends of Music & the Arts in the Scarsdale Schools!  Now that we’re solidly into the second half of the school year, we wanted to give you an update on some of our students’ musical and artistic experiences these past few months.  See below!

We also hope you will consider offering your support with a membership donation to Friends of Music & the Arts for 2016-17, because it is definitely not too late for your contribution to have a positive impact for all our students!  As you can see on this website, we accept online donations via PayPal, or you can print out a membership form and send your check to FMA, P.O. Box 171H, Scarsdale, NY 10583.

Here are some music and arts highlights of the year so far:

• This school year, approximately 140 Scarsdale Middle and High School students participated in All-County and Area All-State Band, Chorus and Orchestra Festivals at Purchase College.  These students were selected based on their excellent NYSSMA scores last spring.   The first weekend in December, 4 students were invited to participate in the All State Festival in Rochester, NY, and 2 students were chosen as alternates.  Congratulations to all!
• As of this writing, approximately 300 Scarsdale students of all ages are scheduled to audition in the 2017 NYSSMA Solo and Ensemble Festival, and another 150 students are planning to audition in the Piano Festival.  Best of luck to all!
• Approximately 85 Fourth and Fifth Grade strings players joined forces at the high school in February to be recorded playing the theme from Dvorak’s New World Symphony.  They were participating in an exciting outreach project sponsored by the New York Philharmonic.  See the kids on video here.
  
• From late November through January, parents were kept busy attending Chorus, Band and Orchestra concerts at each school in the district.  In December there were 7 concerts at the Middle School alone!

• If you missed any of these concerts, check out the Video on Demand page on the Scarsdale Schools website, where concerts are available for your viewing pleasure
  
• The High School Drama Club entertained us with the musical Grease in November, the student-directed play Almost Maine in January, and the play The Servant of Two Masters this past weekend.  Congratulations to all who contributed to these efforts, both on stage and behind the scenes.
• From September until now, 7 high school students have been chosen as Artist of the Month by the art department, and another 13 students have had their works chosen for display at the StArt Regional High School Art Exhibition and the Katonah Museum of Art 2017 Young Artists Exhibition.  Kudos to all!
• FMA hosted a Winter Festival at the Scarsdale Library on January 21, featuring musical performances by a number of Scarsdale students (and one brave parent!), and artwork on display which was selected for inclusion in the Festival by the art teachers at each school in the district.  If you were not able to attend the Winter Festival but would like to see the artwork, check out the photos here!

• During the February break, SHS Band, Chorus and Orchestra members traveled overseas to Australia, Italy and Germany respectively, performing in a variety of historic and other interesting venues and taking in the sights and sounds of foreign countries.
• Throughout the year, grant money from FMA has been put to good use.  New items purchased by each school with FMA funds include: a stringed instrument storage rack at the high school, mobile drying racks for student artwork in a number of our elementary schools, iPads for use in art research at the middle school, display shelves for student artwork at the high school, and more. 

Musically and artistically speaking, it’s been a great year so far!  Still ahead: a teacher appreciation luncheon for the arts faculty later in the spring, hosted by FMA; year-end concerts at every school in the district; and once again FMA will make year-end grants to each school for the purchase of “wish-list” items to enhance our children’s instruction.

FMA is proud to be a “cheerleader” for the arts in Scarsdale.  Your membership donation this year would go a long way toward helping FMA continue to offer support for the arts in our schools.  

Thank you for your support!

Sincerely,

Kathy Gray and Jeannine Palermo

Co-Presidents, FMA

High School Spring Play This Weekend

 Spring is here in all its glory, but much more glorious is the Spring Play,
Carlo Goldoni's "The Servant of Two Masters." 

The Scarsdale High School Drama Club has branched out into commedia dell'arte, full of classical stock characters, hilarious improvisation, and bumbling buffoonery. They have tried to bring the Renaissance to life, with an artistic set design, music, and beautiful costumes, not to mention great student acting.
Support the hardworking SHS Drama Club and join them this weekend to share some laughs!
Shows are Friday and Saturday, both at 7:30 pm.

Faculty Recital - March 30th at Heathcote Auditorium. Join Us!

Artwork at the Winter Festival

FMA Winter Festival