Many of the instruments played by the Sudbury Secondary Jazz Band at the launch 10th anniversary of the Joan Mantle Music Trust allocation are Joan Mantle instruments.
They were purchased with funds from the trust. The high school would never have been able to afford them without that fund, said Mitch McIntyre, music teacher at Sudbury Secondary School.
“(These instruments) are not cheap,” McIntyre said.
The trust is doling out $6,000 each to Sudbury Secondary, Confederation Secondary School and Espanola High School.
McIntyre said the $6,000 Sudbury Secondary will receive will purchase a alto saxophone at $1,000, a tenor saxophone at $1,200, a bass clarinet at $2,500 and a few odds and ends.
“We're so thankful to have the money to buy these new instruments that we wouldn't be able to buy otherwise,” he said.
Norm Blaseg, director of education for Rainbow District School Board, said there is always a need to revitalize music programs in schools.
“Our students will reap the rewards for years to come as we continue to replenish the inventory of instruments in our secondary school,” he said.
Ross Mantle said the trust is something his mother would have supported wholeheartedly.
“This trust is doing work that mom, herself, would have wanted to be done,” he said. “It's an opportunity to keep her memory alive and remember her contributions, and to help out the schools at the same time.”
Since its inception in November 2008, the trust has raised $220,000, which comes from individual donations, corporate contributions and special events, including $11,000 from the International Dinner and Silent Auction held last spring.
Members of the community have also donated a variety of musical instruments, including woodwind and brass instruments.
The seventh International Dinner and Silent Auction will be held Satruday, April 14 at 6 p.m. at the Parkside Centre.
The Joan Mantle Music Trust Community Award will be presented at the dinner. It commemorates Joan Mantle's positive impact on music and music education, not only within the Rainbow District School Board, but throughout the broader community.
