Inglewood Students Attend Free Summer Music Camp

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (KABC) – The Musicians at Play Foundation has created the very first summer music camp in the Inglewood Unified School District. The non-profit organization has partnered with the school district and the Teachers Association.

“Music in particular has been shown to help children with math, helps them develop their leadership skills, teamwork and these children can move on and have a career in music,” said John Acosta, director of the development of Musicians at Play.

Musicians at Play or “MAP” strives to provide tuition-free music education to communities in need.

“One of the things we know is so obvious is that there isn’t enough diversity in the music industry,” Acosta said. “And so MAP is really committed to trying to bring programs like this into the community.”

“I really want more programs like this and I probably want to do so many different instruments,” said Kurtis Walters, a grade 7 student who learned saxophone during camp.

The summer music camp enrolled 40 students in grades two to ten and all of the students were from schools in the surrounding Inglewood area.

“This is certainly in line with our vision to provide our students with innovative opportunities to prepare for academic careers and life,” said Dr Erika Torres, IUSD County Administrator.

No student was turned away. The camp lasted four weeks during the summer school season and each student had one hour of lessons per day, Monday through Thursday. All instruments were donated by Bertrand’s Music.

“They’re really generous because I probably wouldn’t even have this opportunity without the people who gave us these instruments,” Walters said. “So I’m really grateful to them and I’m glad I learned the saxophone.”

Dr Torres and Acosta hope to make music education a regular topic for the future.

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