Rocky Ridge Music Annual Appeal

Rocky Ridge Music is a nonprofit center of music education that offers summer and year-round programming to musicians of all ages and levels. By providing financial aid to both gifted and underprivileged students, we are committed to making world-class music education accessible to everyone. 

Rocky Ridge Music exists to elevate the musician inside each of us through a unique, holistic approach - meeting every student where they are, helping them to learn, create, enjoy - ultimately making us more fulfilled as humans. 

See our video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6EwY2DJjbg&t=10s                         

Rocky Ridge Music provides nearly $100,000 in scholarships and work-study opportunities each year to students from around the country. We depend on support to fund our scholarships, drive our nationally-known programs, and maintain our beautiful historic campus. Contributions to our scholarship funds allow us to provide opportunities for gifted students as well as students in need. Rocky Ridge Music is a 501(c)(3), gifts are tax deductible to the extent allowable under the law.

We believe in music.

It’s our first language, learned from nature.

Before we had words, there was a mother singing to her child, telling her of comfort and safety and love. Before there were words, we used tone, timbre and rhythm to rally our tribe, to build courage, to dispel fear, to create community.

By making music our own, we became who we are.

Our ancient ancestors lived in a dangerous, demanding world. Yet they took the time to carve instruments and make music.

Why? Because a musical mind is a creative mind and creativity is how we adapt and thrive as human beings.

All this is to say that music is not an ornament, not a luxury of a civilized world.

It is central to who we are, coming from deep within us, a connection between us that is both simple and incredibly rich. Learning music is learning about being human. It is learning about yourself and the world around you. This might be hard to remember when you’re pushing yourself to master your instrument, when you are deep in the struggle for excellence, but rest assured, the journey to becoming a better musician is the journey to becoming a better carpenter, doctor, beekeeper, bookkeeper, dentist, teacher or whatever you choose to become. The journey to becoming a better musician is a journey to becoming fully yourself.

That is the power and the potential of music.

And that is why we do what we do.