Classics for Kids Foundation seeks support...

Thanks in advance for helping to spread the word about this worthy cause. In response to the decline of support for string instrument programs serving school-age children around the country, Classics for Kids Foundation was founded with a mission to create and support these programs through matching grants for quality new instruments. Since its inception, CFKF has supported more than 120 programs to kids in more than 30 states from Alaska to Maine. Thus far, it has provided string instruments valued at $1.5 million, and its programs are growing at an average rate of 25% annually. In 2013, CFKF created the CD label KidsClassics, providing an additional opportunity to support the Foundation through net proceeds of its CD sales and downloads. The two premiere KidsClassics releases are: The Muir String Quartet in quartets by Fritz Kreisler, Erwin Schulhoff and Alban Berg (KidsClassics #201301); and Viennese Gems with clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, pianist Judith Lynn Stillman, and cellist Reynolds in Beethoven’s Trio, Opus 38 (after the Septet) and the Zemlinky Clarinet Trio (KidsClassics #201302).

Claudio Abbado, Influential Italian Conductor, Dies at 80

Claudio Abbado, a conductor whose refined interpretations of a large symphonic and operatic repertory won him the directorships of several of the world’s most revered musical institutions — including La Scala, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Vienna State Opera and the Berlin Philharmonic — died on Monday, January 20, 2014. He was 80.NYTimes Obit
Warm, loving and generous in his relationships, Claudio Abbado inspires tremendous devotion and loyalty in his loved ones.