Steinway Concert Artist LARA DOWNES has created the 88 KEYS® Foundation to foster opportunities for music experiences and learning in America’s public schools by providing pianos for use in public K-12 schools.
Multiple sources cited by The National Association for Music Education link early music exposure to a higher rate of success in society, school, and life itself. Music is an essential part of childhood learning. The presence of a piano in a school classroom creates the potential for ongoing music education as well as for exposure to high-quality musical experiences through the community outreach programs of local and national performing arts presenters offering a wide variety of music, theater and dance programming.
The mission of the Foundation will be accomplished by providing pianos in good working condition through private donations and grants, facilitating the donation of used pianos directly to local schools, and by creating a “Key by Key” program through which individuals and corporations can purchase a single piano key or 88 keys for an entire piano.
The initial goal of the Foundation is to place a piano in at least one school in every school district in California.
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