Statements
Mission
Overture Music Academy exists to serve the Middle Tennessee community by providing excellence in music instruction in a Christian environment.
In addition to offering music instruction, our intent is to develop a supportive community for our musicians and their families.
We offer opportunities for student leadership in all the bands and choirs, which includes but is not limited to student section leader, student conductor, and music librarian.
Our focus is to see development of good moral character and community citizenship in each of our students. We are building for the future.
In our choral program, we provide classes that develop holistic singers trained in proper vocal technique and equip them for a lifetime of singing in ensembles ranging from Renaissance to Modern. We offer a non-auditioned choirs for 3rd-12th grade students as well as an audition-only touring choir for 8th-12th grade students. Our 3rd-6th training choir serves to build younger musicians' readiness for using their voices in our 6th-12th grade choirs. All choristers are encouraged to participate in Middle Tennessee Vocal Association honor choirs.
Band students are trained in traditional concert band literature and instrument-specific technique (scales & score reading). Overture's three bands allow students from Elementary to High School to develop as musicians in a skill-level appropriate ensemble and to access other community opportunities such as Middle Tennessee Band and Orchestra Association.
Theory students at Overture study deeply the language of music and the inner working of music composition. High schoolers work rigorously on music concepts that align with AP Music Theory coursework, but they go even further and are challenged to think about music in its historical context. Students who complete theory coursework at Overture are prepared for testing out of music theory and aural skills classes at even the most prestigious of 4-year colleges offering BM in music.
Background
Overture Music Academy was launched summer of 2021. We served 45 students from 29 families in the Middle Tennessee area. Our students come from Cheatham, Hickman, Williamson, Davidson, Rutherford, and Maury counties. For 2023-2024, our enrollment was 73 students across 42 families from the Middle Tennessee area. We are projected to be at 78 students across 45 middle Tennessee families for the 2024-2025 school year.
Classes are held one day each week from August until May. Ensemble directors and class teachers give assignments to students that are conducted at home prior to the next rehearsal.
We have two semesters that each conclude with concerts featuring our 3 bands and 3 choirs. Students perform in the community as a central component of their involvement at Overture in addition to the two semester concerts. All performances are, of course, free to the public. Throughout the school year, students are involved with community outreach at BelleMeade Historic Site and in the area's Assisted Senior Living/Nursing Homes during which they bring music to the audience.
Impact
In year one of existence, Overture Music Academy kept our budget expenditures under our income and had a profit of $3,000, which reflects our fiduciary responsibility and longterm goal-setting.
Our middle school and high school students were awarded honors in the Middle Tennessee Vocal Association and the Middle Tennessee State Band and Orchestra Association.
During our second and third years, we saw continued improvement in the students' musicianship, and had a substantial increase in the number of students selected from the MTVA and MTSBOA midstate choir and band ensembles, respectively, and had several musicians selected for All State with TNMEA.
Our students serve the community throughout the year with music at BelleMeade Historic Site, four Assisted Living facilities, area churches, & a preschool demonstrations. Our touring choir provides the National Anthem at Belmont Basketball games and at Nashville Sounds Baseball games -- we love being involved with our middle Tennessee community!
During our first year, our three graduating seniors received both academic and merit based scholarship for their 4-year college of choice in which they will further their education in the arts. Now, we have an average of 6 graduating high schoolers, many of whom have gone on to pursue higher education in the arts. Many have also entered the STEM/STEAM fields and are recipients of merit-based scholarships for excellence in their academics and in the arts.
Our fundraising goal of $20,000 for our third year was hit due to community support from both individuals and businesses in the middle Tennessee area as well as various colleges within Tennessee who see the outcome of the musician training we provide.
We have enjoyed expanding our choral offerings to now include a full training choir that serves 3rd through 6th graders and continuing to develop our general music class that prepares students for playing concert band instruments or for joining the choir.
In the coming years, we will continue to encourage our students to audition for area honor ensembles & scholarship opportunities as well as a summer programming such as Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts, summer camps such as Blue Lake Fine Arts camps, Brevard Music Center, & Interlochen, & Sewanee.
Needs
Overture Music Academy is seeking to build capital that affords our organization with ways to expand programming to serve a broader middle Tennessee community in the following ways:
-facility rent assistance up to $20,000
-scholarships for students who cannot afford to go on tour with their ensemble
-purchase of land or a building that can serve other middle Tennessee groups who need meeting space Thursday-Tuesday
-band instrument lending library up to $5,000 (or donations of instruments)
-scholarship students in need up to $5,000
-instrument acquisition $10,000
-music library development $2,000
-hire an administrative assistant
-hire an additional choral instructor who can also teach our growing general music program for elementary students
CEO Statement
Our operating costs are now double what the market can bear for the participation costs we can charge to families who wish to participate at Overture. This means that for three years we have offset the program costs to allow families access to our programs by fundraising close to 50% of our operating costs.
Our ongoing desire is for families to have continued access to our music classes and ensembles no matter their financial situation.
In essence, each student at Overture is on a 50% scholarship compared to the costs associated with the classes we offer.
We have begun a fundraising initiative called "Stand with Overture" that allows patrons to participate in monthly donations.
Each "stand partner" provides continuity of programming for our enrolled students.
Our Director of Development is regularly searching for ways we can grow the excellence of our music programming with minimal impact on the costs we have to pass along to the Overture families.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Arts, Culture & Humanities - Music |
| Secondary Category: | Arts, Culture & Humanities - Arts Education |
| Tertiary Category: | Religion- Related - Christianity |
Areas Served
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Maury |
| TN - Hickman |
| TN - Cheatham |
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Dickson |
| TN - Giles |
| TN - Marshall |
| TN - Sumner |
| TN - Wilson |
| TN - Bedford |
| TN - Lewis |
| TN - Lawrence |
| TN - Robertson |
