INDIANA UNIVERSITY PURDUE UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS

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IUPUI SCHOOL OF MUSIC TO USE BLOCK PARTY TO DRUM UP DONATIONS OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL AND SHOWCASE PROGRAMS

This block party has a purpose. In fact, it has two.

The School of Music at IUPUI is hosting a block party to drum up donations of musical instruments for students at Washington Middle School and to focus attention on the classes the music school offers students, whether they can play a note or not.

The two-hour block party will kick off at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 24, on Blackford Street in front of the Mary Cable Building, located at Blackford and Michigan Streets. It will feature live music by School of Music faculty members Jack Gilfoy and Monika Herzig, along with several members of the local musicians union. The Coca-Cola Bottling Co will provide free soft drinks. MBP Catering will sell grilled hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs and chips for a nominal amount.

The Music Performance Trust Fund and Local 3 American Federation of Musicians make the event possible by funding the entertainment.

People with used musical instruments at home are encouraged to bring them to the block party and donate them to budding musicians at George Washington Middle School, which serves children living on the near Westside of Indianapolis. IUPUI has formed a special relationship with its "neighbor" and assists the school with special projects. Receipts, which can be used for tax purposes, will be given to those donating musical instruments.

George Washington Middle School has an average of 80 students who participate in band classes. Due to a shortage of instruments, however, only two classes can be taught each day. Nearly half of the students participating do not have an instrument to play.

The IUPUI block party is an opportunity for students, faculty, staff and the public to celebrate the onset of spring and a chance for the school to highlight its programs, including the IUPUI Pep Band, a new contemporary Broadway musical class, a music and computer class. The School offers two free credit hours to campus musicians who join IUPUI's pep band, which promotes not only IUPUI's Division I sports teams but a sense of community as well.

Music school officials believe that many would-be students think their programs are only for those who can sing or play an instrument. Not so, they note. Among the school's class offerings: a popular music and jazz studies, music technology and the business of music. There are classes for those who do sing or play, and those who will teach music, too.

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