DENVER, Sept. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Local Denver band The Fray is coming home to headline the year-end concert at Red Rocks Open-air Amphitheatre on Saturday, September 30. As part of this event, the band will donate $35,000 to the VH1 Save The Music Foundation. The donation, along with funds from The Denver Foundation, ECA Foundation, and the American Family Mutual Insurance Company, will help the VH1 Save The Music Foundation and Comcast restore 20 musical education programs in Denver Public Schools -- valued at $500,000. This is VH1 Save The Music's largest restoration of music programs in the Denver Public Schools. Prior to the concert, the band will host a pre-concert acoustic performance and Q&A with 60 Denver public schools students.
The donation of $500,000 worth of instruments in Denver is part of the VH1 Save The Music Foundation's efforts to restore $4 million worth of instrumental music programs to public schools nationwide throughout the 2006/2007 school year.
"We are so thankful to The Fray for lending their support and passion to the VH1 Save The Music Foundation and to Comcast for their vital partnership throughout the last eight years," said Paul Cothran, Executive Director, VH1 Save The Music Foundation. "This event strikes a chord with our VH1 Save The Music students by allowing them to see first hand the positive effects of music education. Members of The Fray are all graduates of the Denver Public Schools system and, clearly, music education has helped them become the great success they are today. We are so grateful that they are sharing the gift of music with our students from the Denver Public Schools system."
"Comcast is pleased to help facilitate the VH1 Save The Music Foundation's work in the Denver area. The Foundation's restoration of 20 music programs in Denver highlights why Comcast works with the Foundation and highlights our commitment to our public schools and community," said Scott Binder, Senior Vice President Comcast Colorado. "It is imperative that we continue to increase awareness about the importance of music education."
Since 1998, the VH1 Save The Music Foundation, with the support of affiliate partner Comcast, has provided $1,125,000 worth of new musical instruments to restore music programs in 45 schools. The VH1 Save The Music Foundation is supported locally in Denver throughout 2006-2007 school year by local funders The Denver Foundation, ECA Foundation, and the American Family Mutual Insurance Company.
Since the VH1 Save The Music Foundation was created in 1997, $34 million worth of new musical instruments have been donated to 1,400 public schools in 80 cities, improving the lives of more than 800,000 children. Now in its ninth year, the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning VH1 Save The Music Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of education in America's public schools by restoring music education programs in cities across the U.S. and raising awareness of the importance of music participation for our nation's youth. VH1 Save The Music's many honors include the Governors' Award (a special Emmy Award), the George Foster Peabody Award for broadcast and cable excellence, and many Beacon Awards. VH1 Save The Music Foundation's 2006 national sponsors include Anheuser Busch, Crest, Curve Fragrances by Liz Claiborne, Grey Goose Vodka, JetBlue, and Nikon.
About Comcast:
Comcast Corporation (http://www.comcast.com/) is the nation's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services. With 23.3 million cable customers, 10 million high-speed Internet customers, and 1.6 million voice customers, Comcast is principally involved in the development, management and operation of broadband cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.
Comcast's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, The Golf Channel, OLN, G4, AZN Television, PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One and four regional Comcast SportsNets. Comcast also has a majority ownership in Comcast Spectacor, whose major holdings include the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey team, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team and two large multipurpose arenas in Philadelphia.
Comcast employs more than 4,000 people in Colorado. The company has 800,000 customers in Colorado.
About VH1:
VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with series, specials, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in nearly 88 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array of digital services including VH1 Classic and VH1 Soul. Connect with VH1 at http://www.vh1.com/.
VH1 is a registered trademark of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom International Inc. MTV Networks also operates and offers joint ventures, licensing agreements and syndication deals whereby its programming can be seen worldwide.
