We’d like to invite you to the Lorton Performance Center on the University of Tulsa campus on May 14 at 7pm for the final Raise Your Voice! concert of the year.
Raise Your Voice
Lorton Performance Center, University of Tulsa
Monday, May 14, 7pm-8:30pm
Reception to follow
For this final concert, students from five local schools will gather for a free, one-night-only celebration of vocal music training in Tulsa Public schools.
Following the concert, there will be a reception for the parents, children, and audience. It is an opportunity to hear directly from the children and parents about this program—the only program of its type in the United States.
What Is Raise Your Voice?
Raise Your Voice! is a partnership between Tulsa Opera and Tulsa Public Schools aimed at keeping creativity in schools at a time when education funding—and particularly arts education funding—has been demolished in Oklahoma.
Tulsa Opera and TPS worked together to identify five economically disadvantaged schools—Thoreau Demonstration Academy, Monroe Demonstration School, Hale Junior High, East Central Junior High and Penn Elementary—where vocal music programming was eliminated due to budget cuts.
They also found certified instructors to implement the program, and in August 2017, the RYV pilot program officially got started.
Within the program, students learn basic vocal techniques and choral singing, and then perform at school and community functions. This year, they also performed at Tulsa Opera’s 70th Anniversary Gala at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, alongside opera professionals.
In addition to vocal instruction, students in the program and their families receive free tickets to Opera performances, giving them high-quality, professional arts experiences.
Raise Your Voice! has three main objectives:
- To reinstate vocal music programs in Tulsa Public Schools’ elementary and junior high schools where budget cuts have led to their elimination,
- To support TPS and the community at a time of dire need, and
- To provide creative outlets for our community’s children and families.
Our other goals include increasing student learning and interest in the performing arts, increasing student academic vocabulary, increasing students’ knowledge of opera, and using music to learn STEM skills. Finally, we want to engage young people and their families at free events, thereby enriching family-life and the community in a greater understanding of art and culture.
We want Raise Your Voice! to excite the community—especially students and their families—and show them a broader perspective on the world through music and voice.
Does It Work?
So far, the inaugural year of Raise Your Voice! has been a resounding success. The pilot program has grown to 88 students across the five schools, and demand continues to grow. In fact, TPS has already requested that we expand the program into more elementary schools. And among the students currently enrolled in the program, parents have noted an increase in social and academic involvement.
Celebrate With Us
As the first year of Raise Your Voice! comes to a close, please join us on May 14 to celebrate the amazing work these students and instructors have done this year. This one-night-only concert is absolutely free, and will give you a chance to see the difference arts education can make.
Your donations have made programs like this possible, and we thank you, our supporters, from the bottom of our hearts.
Donate today to continue supporting programs like Raise Your Voice!