MANCHESTER- The Vermont Symphony Orchestra is the proud recipient of a Stratton Foundation McCarty Grant. This grant is being used to help bring children in specific Bennington county school districts to the SymphonyKids Orchestral Youth Concerts at the Manchester Elementary/Middle School on Friday, May 15, at 9:30 and 11 am.

“Team VSO,” which is the title of the Orchestral Youth Concert program, is a unique, creative program that makes an analogy between sports and music and tackles topics such as performance pressure, perseverance, leadership, and teamwork, with examples drawn from classical music literature.

The VSO is unique in its ability and desire to bring its programs to every child in Vermont. In its last complete season, the VSO reached an astounding 28,198 students from 173 schools through its SymphonyKids programs. Despite these numbers, there are many children whom the VSO did not reach due to the fact that some schools do not have the resources needed to provide their students with the opportunity to attend a VSO educational concert. The McCarty grant is being used to help subsidize ticket fees so that schools that are not typically able to attend the Orchestral Youth Concerts in Manchester tour may do so this year.

For more information on how a local school can participate in “Team VSO” contact VSO marketing manager and development associate Rebecca Stone at (800) 876-9293, ext. 11.

For more information on the Stratton Foundation contact (802) 297-2096 or visit www.strattonfoundation.org.