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Pro Musica has been approved for a $10,000 Challenge America grant to support the second half of Pro Musica’s 40th Season. This project includes concerts featuring the Horszowski (piano) Trio, the Jupiter & Jasper (string) Quartets, and the Brubeck Jazz Quartet. Overall, the National Endowment for the Arts has approved 1,187 grants totaling $27.3 million in the first round of fiscal year 2020 funding to support arts projects across the country. Pro Musica is one of 145 Challenge America grants included in this announcement.

The Challenge America funding category offers support primarily to small and mid-sized organizations for projects that extend the reach of the arts to populations that have limited access to the arts due to geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability. Each grant is for a fixed amount of $10,000 and requires a minimum $10,000 cost share/match.

“The arts are at the heart of our communities, connecting people through shared experiences and artistic expression,” said Arts Endowment chairman Mary Anne Carter. “The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support projects like Pro Musica’s 40th Season – A Special Encore Performance Season.”

Deborah Billings, Pro Musica’s Executive Director, said “We are so honored to be chosen by the National Endowment for the Arts to receive this award. Awards like this allow us to continue our mission of ‘fostering interest in, appreciation for, and enjoyment of world-class live classical music in Joplin and the four-state area’.”

The Horszowski (piano) Trio will present a public performance on Thursday, February 20th, at Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School Auditorium. The concert starts at 7:00 PM and is open to the public at no charge. Additional information is available on this website and Pro Musica’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/pg/ProMusicaJoplin

For more information on projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

I was blessed to be raised by a mother who believed adamantly in the arts.

My upbringing included lessons on how to attend a classical music concert, backstage visits to our local college’s theater department and weekend excursions to city museums to explore national traveling exhibits.

Granted, it was the 1970s and there weren’t as many options vying for my pre-teen attention, but I could sing the lyrics to “Try to Remember,” the beautiful and haunting song about nostalgia from the musical comedy “The Fantasticks” before I could sing any pop radio tune.

I don’t have a laser sharp memory about many aspects of my childhood — I was a daydreamer — but I can close my eyes and seemingly relive every curtain opening, every thrill of the sound of an orchestra warming up and every, “Oh wow,” uttered at the first glimpse of an incredible work of art.

Perhaps it’s that child-parent connection that makes me so proud to be involved as president of Pro Musica. Our mission is to foster interest in, appreciation for and enjoyment of world-class, live classical music in Joplin and the Four-State Area. At every concert, we’re thrilled to see parents and their children enjoying a performance together.

Pro Musica has been the leader in providing culturally rich, classical music programs for Joplin and the surrounding area. The Pro Musica Chamber Series presents chamber music ensembles of the highest professional quality, available to the public at no charge, thanks to underwriting by generous local businesses.

In addition to formal concerts, Pro Musica provides educational outreach and enrichment to local schools, as well as to the social service, civic and business communities. We’ll always view outreach as a vital part of who we are and how we extend the love and appreciation of classical music into the community. It’s integral to our identity.

Partnership opportunities within the community are always sought by Pro Musica. We have partnered with many local businesses, as well as Spiva Center for the Arts. We look forward to partnering with Connect2Culture and others to celebrate Missouri’s bicentennial with a special collaborative performance in 2021.

Our connection with Connect2Culture and the soon-to-be-realized Harry M. Cornell Arts & Entertainment Complex is one of those rare and energizing “both/and” connections. We’re excited to anticipate a location perfect for bringing performance that we like to refer to as “ageless music to all ages.”

In its first season, Pro Musica presented one concert, the St. Louis Brass Quintet. We’re about to enter a celebratory anniversary performance season in which we have five amazing, over-the-top performances scheduled and an incredible encore jazz concert to end the season. And the icing on top of the cake would be to see a love for the arts supported and celebrated within the Joplin metropolitan area.

The support deadline is fast approaching for the Cornell Complex. To date, 169 donors have committed almost $13.6 million. The Joplin arts community is so close to meeting the $14 million minimum amount that will unlock the city of Joplin’s contribution of the parking lot in front of Memorial Hall. How close? 97% close.

Please visit http://connect2culture.org/cornell-complex to make your pledge. You’ll be saying, “Yes, I believe in the arts.”

I believe the artistic community, in all its beautiful forms and flavors, is alive and well in Joplin.

 – Lori Marble is president of Pro Musica.

 – Published in The Joplin Globe on May 26, 2019