RETIRED TEACHERS OF ONTARIO
SUPPORT WSO’s EDUCATION CONCERTS

(WINDSOR, ON – September 28, 2007)   The Retired Teachers of Ontario (RTO) has granted the Windsor Symphony Orchestra $3,250 to send children in financial need to WSO Educational Concerts. The grant application was presented on behalf of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra by RTO District 7 Windsor-Essex.

The award will presented to the Orchestra on stage at the opening Pops Celebration concert of its 60th Anniversary Season, on Sunday, September 30th, 2007 at the St. Clair Centre for the Arts. Conducted by Music Director John Morris Russell, the program features famous Canadian tenor Michael Burgess and the WSO Chorus. Tickets are available at 519-252-6579.

The Windsor Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Maestro John Morris Russell, is a fully professional, award-winning orchestra widely acclaimed as one of the top regional orchestras in Canada. The WSO’s Educational Concert Series is a central part of the WSO season. Introducing children to the joy and wonder of live performance is one of the central elements of the Orchestra’s season.  Each year the Educational Concert Series (geared this year for students and their teachers in grades K-3, 4-6 and 7 and up) is performed for over 12,000 students and teachers in Windsor and Essex County. The Educational Concert Series is growing as it benefits from ever greater involvement of educators in the planning and preparation of these concerts. Students can literally see a different concert every year. The concerts are interactive, original and specifically tied to the Ontario Curriculum via the Teacher’s Resource Kit.

This grant will benefit schools in areas with depressed financial circumstances.It will help send students, who have not been able to attend due to financial restrictions, to one of the Educational Concerts in Windsor and Essex County.

The Windsor Symphony Orchestra received this grant as part of the RTO’s Service to Others Project. The intent of Service to Others is to raise the profile of retired teachers by visibly demonstrating to active teachers and to the public-at-large that retired teachers care about their communities and about public education, and are willing to do something to help those who need assistance.

For more information, please contact:
Rob Gold, Director of Marketing
Tel: 519-973-1238, ext. 23
Email: rgold@windsorsymphony.com
Web:    www.windsorsymphony.com