Last Fall, Rina Stone reached out to us to donate her mother’s violin to The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation so that it can once again be used to make music:
“The violin belongs to my 92 year old mother, a holocaust survivor. She played in a youth symphony in Germany before WWII until she was expelled for being Jewish. Although this is not the original violin she played in her youth, it was purchased about 40 years ago when she decided to start playing again and joined a neighborhood orchestra.”
This Spring we were excited to inform Rina that her mother’s violin had a new home at Santa Ana High School in Santa Ana, CA; only an hour from where she lives!
Joseph Kaye, Director of Orchestras at Santa Ana High School, applied for the Michael Kamen Grant last Fall. He was hired to help rebuild Santa Ana High's orchestra program. He started by repairing instruments so that more students could enroll and he also volunteered at the local middle school that feeds into Santa Ana H.S. teaching music after school to ensure a strong incoming freshman class. In just one year he was able to increase the Orchestra program enrollment by 50%. Despite his efforts, and the support from Santa Ana High School and the Santa Ana Unified School District, it was common for two or three students to share the same instrument.
Thanks to the generous support of our donors, we were able to award Santa Ana High School $400 towards the repair of instruments, two new string bass outfits, a refurbished cello, a refurbished viola, and five refurbished violins. One of the violins we donated to Santa Ana High School belonged to Rina’s mother.
We shared Rina’s story with Mr. Kaye:
“We are very blessed to have such wonderful instruments and the story behind the donors and their instrument is inspiring. Currently, the violin is being used by Ganelia Espinosa, a freshman in the beginning orchestra who has taken to violin and will be coming in throughout the summer to further her skills.”
We know how difficult it is to part with a cherished instrument that has memories and history, but knowing that a child like Ganelia will breathe new life into it makes it so worthwhile.
To learn how you can donate an instrument to The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation,
click here.
To see a full list of schools we awarded this school year
click here.
