The U.S. House of Representatives has just created an annual September Arts in Education Week, which this year will be September 12th-18th. This is an opportunity for orchestras to amplify their ongoing national and local advocacy efforts to advance  arts education as a core academic subject in our schools. The League will be working with our partner organizations to create visibility for this national advocacy effort. We realize it is short notice this year, but here are a few suggestions for how you can help in your community:

• Check with teachers, PTA leaders, school board members, and other school leaders to learn how your orchestra can support arts education in your schools.
• Seek opportunities for leaders of your orchestra (music director, musicians, executive director, board leaders, and others) to speak on behalf of in-school music education in the local press, at school board meetings, and in other public settings.
• Review (and sign onto!) the League’s statement of common cause, Orchestras Support In-School Music Education. We will be publically promoting this statement during Arts in Education Week—you won’t want your orchestra to be left off the list of more than 200 orchestras that have signed on!

Thanks for helping! For more information about Arts in Education Week, go to the Arts Education Partnership’s special hub at http://www.aep-arts.org/artsineducationweek.html.

Posted August 20, 2010

Looking for that exciting fundraising project? Seeking innovative ways to help your orchestra? The Volunteer Council of the League of American Orchestras has the perfect source of great ideas: The Gold Book Online, the national resource of successful volunteer projects. The Gold Book Online is jam-packed with information about tried-and-true projects, events, and services created by volunteers at orchestras nationwide. This year, the Gold Book celebrates its 35th anniversary, offering a compilation of viable plans since 1975. And it’s available for free online. “The beauty of the Gold Book is that anyone, anywhere can read all of the information about these successful projects,” says Jane Van Dyk, president of the Volunteer Council. “There are brief descriptions of a huge range of projects, and they could work for executive directors, staff, volunteers, and development people. These are projects that have proven track records, and the Gold Book Online archive now includes 400 projects over the past 5 years. Anyone can search this incredible resource, which includes such topics as audience development, community engagement, leadership, organizational structure, and so much more.” The Volunteer Council annually seeks submissions for inclusion in the Gold Book Online. All submissions are published online, and anyone can search the archives (begun in 2005). The Volunteer Council recognizes the top-rated submissions with the Awards of Excellence at the League’s National Conference every June—and now is the time to submit your project for consideration.  Submissions are due September 1, 2010. To be considered for a 2011 award, your volunteer projects must have taken place between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010. Details and submission form can be found here.

Posted August 20, 2010