INSTRUCTIONAL JAZZ AND ALL GENRES GUITAR PROGRAM
1. Eubanks Conservatory of Music and Arts is endeavoring to raise $450,000 so that we can purchase a modest 2,000 square feet building. We have been in business since 1951. We are an I.R.S. determined 501 (c) 3, charitable organization. Our Determination Letter permits donors to deduct contributions provided in section 170 of the code. Bequest, legacies, devises, transfers, gifts and currency are deductible for Federal estate and gift tax purposes, if they meet the applicable provisions of section 2055, 2106 and 2522 of the Code.
2. Please help us. Your help will allow us to provide “free after school cultural arts classes” for 150 – 200 students. Our objective is to reduce the recidivism rate that lack key students are prone to engage in. Drugs, gangs, sex, graffiti, vandalism, and destructive behavior is on the up rise. We can reduce this destructive behavior significantly by offering the school districts, cities and communities a positive alternative.
3. Here is a synopsis on the history of Eubanks Conservatory of Music and Arts and the founder Dr. Rachel Eubanks written May 13, 2006 by Jocelyn Y. Stewart, L.A. Times Staff Writer. Dr. Eubanks earned a bachelor’s degree in music from UC Berkeley, a master’s from Columbia University and a doctorate from Pacific Western University, which was based in Los Angeles and is now in San Diego. Her many works, secular and sacred, won her recognition in the International Dictionary of Black Composers and the National Assn. of Negro Musicians. She headed the music departments at what was then known as Albany State College in Georgia and at Wilberforce University in Ohio before settling in Los Angeles. She began offering piano lessons from her apartment. In 1951 she opened a school at 47th and Figueroa streets, then moved to the Crenshaw location in 1963. In the 1970s and ’80s, at the height of its prominence, the school offered associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in instruments, voice performance, theory, composition and music history. At its height, E.C.M.A. institution was accredited by the state and each year offered hundreds of students classical training, pushing generation after generation to strive for musical greatness. ¬¬¬ “It was like a community school,” said Sophia Katsnelson, a Eubanks piano teacher from 1995 to 2006. “I met a lot of people who say … ‘about 20 years ago I started at this place, and now I’m bringing my kids’ or even the grandkids.” Dr. Rachel Eubanks succumbed in 2006 and from that time until October 25, 2012 the organization was in a disarray and falling apart. It was on October 25, 2012 when Louis Lee 11 became the new CEO/President, of the organization, that he appointed a new Board of Director’s, enacted a new Business and Vision Plan and redirected the organization on the path of a vitalized purpose. Since that time, we have instructed our cultural arts program at two local school districts, while concurrently instructing guitar classes and private lessons. But with the economical influx of the economy we have dwindled down to 25 students.
4. Research has shown that students in areas that provide after school cultural arts program have a 50% to 80% lower rate in these non-productive statistics. When we look at the education rating systems for 200 counters, the United Sate of America is rated 33 on the rating system. The top 10 countries on the educational rating system are: 1. Finland, 2. South Korea, 3. Hong Kong, 4. Japan, 5. Singapore, 6. United Kingdom, 7. Netherlands, 8. New Zealand, 9. Switzerland, and 10. Canada. These countries, and impressively Finland for being number one for over 5 decades, attributed the catalyst of their success to a forged alliance with local governments, school districts and communities. In addition, the mandated cultural arts program for every student is designed with a specific pedagogical level of cultural arts classes for the enjoyment of learning. It covers dance, acting, drama, singing, all musical instruments and sculpturing. The program is funded by the government and private industry.
5. Your donation can help us make a difference. We can only instruct 25 students at a time because of space, limited available hours and flexibility. Through your donation, we would be able to instruct 150 – 200 students, in a variety of cultural arts and at more convenient hours. Our students would have access to the facility for private and group instruction, rehearsals, group meetings, practicing sessions and more. The facility would be open and available for most of the year including all summer, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and on all celebratory one day Holidays.
6. For additional information please visit our website at: the-ecma.com.
7. This program is designed by Louis Lee a graduate from U.S.C. with a Bachelor’s in Jazz Studies and a Master’s in Education. Coupled with years of performing experience with Sister Sledge, Billy Paul, M.F.S.B. Macy Gray, and more.
8. Guitar theory, scales, intense guitar chord study, finger dexterity exercise, focus on music sight reading and building a repertoire