National Recognition for Local Los Angeles Orchestra

National Recognition for Local Los Angeles Orchestra

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Santa Cecelia Orchestra, a dynamic presence in the cultural life of Los Angeles, has added a new honor to its growing prestige -- the Orchestra was chosen to participate in the Kennedy Center's "Capacity Building Program for Culturally Specific Arts Organizations."

The nomination recognizes Santa Cecilia Orchestra's strong commitment to Los Angeles' expanding Latino community -- a hallmark of the Orchestra's 13-year history. Santa Cecelia has endeavored to expose its culturally diverse audiences to the Latino heritage in music and to include the Latino audience in the wider reach of classical music. The Orchestra's programs have been a forum for some of the Latin world's most talented and renowned classical musicians.

Although celebrated for its contributions to the Latino community, Santa Cecilia Orchestra promotes a broad-based artistic vision, creating an enthusiastic multi-ethnic audience that crosses demographics throughout Southern California and beyond.

The orchestra's Music director and Conductor, Maestra Sonia Marie De Leon de Vega, was the first woman in history to receive a Vatican invitation to conduct a symphony orchestra at a Papal Mass. And the Orchestra itself recently received a highly competitive National Endowment for the Arts grant in recognition of its contributions to music and the city's cultural life.

Santa Cecilia's extraordinary educational program, Discovering Music, takes orchestra members into elementary schools in culturally underserved neighborhoods in Los Angeles, reaching more than 40,000 students with opportunities to learn and perform. Discovering Music was cited in the media as a "model" program for introducing children to classical music and the Los Angeles City Council awarded the Orchestra a special commendation for the program in 2004.

The Kennedy Center award will provide critical resources to enhance the Orchestra's marketing, strategic planning, board development and fundraising efforts. The core of the program is a symposium in March 2006 that will bring together 36 arts organizations from across the country for group discussions, organizational analyses and team planning.

For more information contact Francesca Alonso at Santa Cecilia Orchestra. Phone (323) 259-3011 or santaceciliao@aol.com, or visit www.scorchestra.org.

Source: Santa Cecelia Orchestra

CONTACT: Francesca Alonso of Santa Cecelia Orchestra, +1-323-259-3011, santaceciliao@aol.com

Web site: http://www.scorchestra.org/

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