In addition to our annual summer concert series, The Festival at Sandpoint is passionate bout our year-round educational mission in the community. The Festival donates tickets for those who could not otherwise afford to experience a musical performance and presents many educational opportunities and programs including the following:

The Family Concert: An affordable opportunity for kids and their families to share the arts. The Festival at Sandpoint's 2004 Family Concert, featuring "Music from Outer Space," was a big hit from an educational and entertainment standpoint. This popular "Festival for Families" included activities for kids of all ages, followed by a concert with Maestro Gary Sheldon and Verne Windham conduction the Spokane Youth Symphony. The performance included selections fro Mozart's "Jupiter" Symphony, Holst's "The Planets," and even John Williams' compositions from the Star Wars movies, featuring dancers from the Studio 1 Dance Academy. Once again the most popular pre-concert activity of the day was the Classical Instrument Petting Zoo, where kids got to try various instruments on for size under the tutelage of Sandpoint High School Band and Sandpoint Charter Middle School Band members. It was an excellent mentorship experience for everyone involved. Every child who came through the gates received a musical goody bag with an educational/fun activity booklet to take home regarding the concert.
	5th Grade Music Outreach Program A community-based educational program with school workshops throughout Bonner and Boundary County and free tickets for over 800 kids and their families to attend the Festival's Grand Finale symphonic concert. Now going into its seventh year, this wonderful program just keeps getting bigger and better. We continued to reach every child in Bonner and Boundary County public and private schools as well as home-schooled students in both counties. In May of 2004, an ensemble of twelve musicians traveled to each classroom led by the Festival's Principal Conductor Gary Sheldon, and Verne Windham of the Spokane Youth Orchestra and KPBX fame, to present performances of excerpts from the Festival's classical concerts. Lively discussions accompanied the performances and each student also received a study guide to take home with a voucher for three free tickets for themselves and their parents, or other family members, to attend the Festival's Grand Finale concert on August 15th. We also offered additional discounted tickets for $5 for all immediate family members of these 5th graders. Our Grand Finale Concert is now the highest attended concert of our season as we see more young faces in the audience each year!
Scholarships: Coldwater Creek Scholarship and Festival at Sandpoint/Angels Over Sandpoint Fine Arts Scholarship
Coldwater Creek Scholarship The Festival's Education Committee awarded its $1,000 Music Scholarship, funded by Coldwater Creek to Sandpoint High School Senior Ben Lockwood. The talented pianist was born and raised in Sandpoint. He began piano lessons in the fourth grade. In middle school he joined the jazz band and worked with Scott Kirby, the renowned ragtime pianist and composer who also happens to be a Sandpoint local. In high school Ben joined the Sandpoint High School Jazz Band and accompanied the SHS Concert and Performing Choirs at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival at the University of Idaho, as well as other music festivals in Seattle and Portland. He has also been a fixture performing for local Missoula Children's Theater productions. A gifted student, Ben graduated this year as the valedictorian of his class. He will attend Amherst College in Massachusetts, this fall, where he will use this scholarship to continue studying jazz and playing the piano. He accepted his scholarship after his solo performance at the Festival's August 15th Grand Finale Concert. We are thrilled to acknowledge the potential of young musicians and to help fuel their dreams through this scholarship each year.
	The Festival at Sandpoint/Angels Over Sandpoint Fine Arts Scholarship This scholarship was the result of The Festival teaming up with another local non-profit organization for the second year to present a scholarship opportunity to encourage community youth to excel in the arts. The scholarship rotates its focus annually to encourage various aspects of the arts. The 2004 scholarship was awarded in the area of Theater & Dance. Future years will include awards in Vocal Performance, Writing and Visual Arts. This year's scholarship recipient was Kelly Peters, and exceptional dance student for Sandpoint High School who started dancing at the age of two and hasn't stopped. She will use her scholarship funds to pursue her college studies in dance with an ultimate goal of "making it on Broadway" as a dancer and choreographer. As part of this scholarship program, Kelly also had the experience of presenting a solo dance performance at the Festival's Family Concert Program.
Instrument Assistance Program: Our newest educational effort is our Instrument Assistance Program, with a goal of providing instruments for elementary and middle school students who cannot afford to otherwise buy or rent them. We believe any student who wants to play in the school band, should have the opportunity to do so. During the 2003-04 school year the festival purchased a trombone for Southside Elementary, and oboe for the Sandpoint Middle School, a piano to the Sandpoint Charter Middle School, and 3 sets of bass drums and cymbals for all elementary schools, and repair kits for the upkeep of existing instruments. The Festival has also repaired numerous instruments in the schools and have put them back in the students' hands .
Do you have an old instrument gathering dust in your closet? You could help a young musician and make a tax-deductible donation. The Festival's new Instrument Assistance Program reconditions and donates instruments to local elementary and middle schools so that students who cannot afford to buy or rent instruments can play in the band. Please give us a call at (208) 265-4554 if you can help us with this project