SILER CITY — Major projects to expand opportunities for student artists received a significant boost this month when the Chatham Arts Council awarded two grants to the Jordan-Matthews Arts Foundation.
The Foundation received $5,546 capacity-building grant will provide professional time and expertise for the nonprofit to research potential sources of ongoing outside income, develop its public outreach and improve the sound system used for public performances, according to a news release from the Chatham Arts Council.
The grant is designed to help strengthening organizations and provide better programs for constituents and the entire community, the release said.
The Grassroots Grant initiative awarded JMArts with a matching grant of $3,050 that will be used to pay professional musicians performing in the pit orchestra and as rehearsal pianist for Jordan-Matthews High School’s upcoming North Carolina School Premiere of “Frozen: The Broadway Musical.”
Jordan-Matthews was selected in a national contest to present the first school performances of “Frozen” ever produced in the state, the release said.
The production, with public performances from April 19-21, features a 20-member pit orchestra in a collaboration among student and professional musicians. Student musicians from Jordan-Matthews, Northwood and Seaforth high schools were selected in open auditions. Professional musicians, nearly all affiliated with Chatham County Schools, will join students in the orchestra directed by Silk Hope School music teacher Zachary Wills.
“JMArts brings the kinds of arts experiences to students in Chatham County that change lives, so it’s no surprise, really, that Jordan-Matthews was selected to stage ‘Frozen,’ ” said Chatham Arts Council Artistic Director Cheryl Chamblee. “At the Chatham Arts Council, we’re thrilled to be a small part of helping make ‘Frozen’ happen — both by supporting the project itself and by supporting the capacity-building work that enables JMArts to do even stronger, even more inclusive and even more sustainable work.”
JMArts already has a vibrant portfolio of projects — all designed, as the organization puts it, to help students interested in the arts reach their dreams, whether that means a career in the arts or a lifetime of artistic expression.
Its flagship initiative, JMArts Scholars, has awarded 89 scholarships to 60 students since 2012 for intensive study over the summer, usually at weeklong residential workshops offered on university campuses. JMArts Scholars develop their talents, explore artistic options before making their college decisions and bring what they learn back to share with other students.
But that’s just the start. JMArts’s most visible project may be producing the annual musical. Last year, it was “Shrek the Musical.”
The nonprofit also takes eight upper-class arts students to New York City each spring break to learn directly from world-renowned artists; works with community partners to offer free student workshops led by professional artists; produces the annual “Sing and Play” student music competition for K-12 musicians throughout the area; and offers a variety of public concerts and events.
“We appreciate the ongoing support of the Chatham Arts Council,” said JMArts President Rose Pate. “Not only will we be able to secure microphone upgrades and training for our staff with the capacity grant, but our production of ‘Frozen’ will be significantly enhanced by the professional musicians in our pit orchestra. The experience of rehearsing and performing with professionals will be a unique and important experience for our student musicians from all across Chatham County.”
Pate said that more than one-third of all seats for “Frozen” — and more than half for the closing performance — have already been sold. General admission tickets are $8 each and available now at JMArtsTickets.com.
