The Harlem School of the Arts to Recieve Historic Grant of More Than $5 Million from the Herb Alpert Foundation

NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — The Harlem School of the Arts (HSA), the community-based cultural and educational institution serving children and families of all backgrounds for nearly 50 years, today announced that it will receive an historic grant of more than $5 million from the Herb Alpert Foundation.  The grant, totaling $5,050,000, is a gift from legendary musician, artist and philanthropist Herb Alpert to ensure a sustainable future for the Harlem School of the Arts and the future of its students.

Through this unprecedented grant, the Harlem School of the Arts will create an endowment providing scholarships for needy students, retire its inherited debt and further enhance its programs and facilities that offer cultural enrichment and world-class training in five areas:  music, dance, theater, the visual arts and musical theater.  With this gift, Herb Alpert will have given a total of $6,000,000 to the Harlem School of the Arts since 2010.  To commemorate Mr. Alpert’s extraordinary commitment and support, The Herb Alpert Center will be the home of the Harlem School of the Arts.

The Harlem School of the Arts will honor Herb Alpert at its Fall Benefit to be held at Lincoln Center’s Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse on Wednesday, October 10.  Ticket information for the Benefit can be found at www.hsanyc.org.

Located in Harlem’s historic Hamilton Heights, the Harlem School of the Arts was founded in 1964 by pioneering concert soprano Dorothy Maynor.  Since then, the Harlem School of the Arts has transformed the lives of tens of thousands of children from across the City and surrounding areas in an award-winning 37,000-square-foot facility.

The Herb Alpert Foundation (www.herbalpertfoundation.org) is the vision of legendary musician, sculptor, painter, producer, recording industry executive and philanthropist Herb Alpert and his wife, Lani Hall.   The Herb Alpert Foundation has supported the Harlem School of the Arts since 2010, providing an initial donation of $500,000.

“From Beethoven to Bebop and oil painting to theater, the Harlem School of the Arts is committed to providing world-class arts training to young people of all backgrounds,” says Yvette L. Campbell, president and CEO, the Harlem School of the Arts.  “We are so grateful to Herb Alpert and the Herb Alpert Foundation for their support and commitment to advancing our mission as we embark on an important and exciting new phase in our near-50-year history.”   

“When I read that the Harlem School of the Arts might close, I could not imagine that such an artistic, historic community could be lost and I felt compelled to get involved,” says Herb Alpert. “Today I am proud of the School, and the tremendous strides its new leadership has made since that critical time two years ago.

Rona Sebastian, president of the Herb Alpert Foundation notes, “The Harlem School of the Arts is a perfect example of the key values Herb and Lani Alpert support through their Foundation.  It is a place where programs promote the arts, promote creativity and nurture compassion, and in so doing, serve to strengthen both youth and entire families in a broad-based community setting.”

HSA’s mission is to empower young people, ages 2-18, to find and develop the artists and citizen within themselves in an environment that teaches discipline, stimulates creativity, builds self-confidence without prejudice, and adds a dimension of beauty to their lives.  HSA stands unique among the major cultural institutions in New York City as the sole provider of high-caliber, affordable arts education in music, dance, theatre, visual arts and musical theatre.

Contact:
Helen Shelton
Finn Partners
212.593.6443
[email protected]