For more than 15 years, Kids' Orchestra has been bringing children from across southeast Louisiana together through community-based music education. Since 2010, KO has served over 9,000 students—through its afterschool program (a safe, nurturing space in which kids learn to play an instrument), its Harmony Collective (extra music education opportunities on the weekends), private music lessons, a four-week summer camp, and plenty more creative initiatives. This past school year, KO students performed for over 57,000 audience members at events across Capital Area communities.
While its focus emphasizes music education, KO's efforts—particularly via its lauded afterschool program—extend beyond instruction, offering valuable social and emotional learning opportunities, homework help, and healthy snacks within a safe environment that fosters pivotal moments for inspiration, growth, and mentor relationships.
"We have kids who started in elementary school and continued through high school," said Patrick Tuck, CEO. "We've also been around long enough that we've had kids who started with us in elementary schools, who went on to be music majors in college, and now teach for us."
In addition to providing children with accessible, high-quality music education opportunities, the organization also provides critical workforce development for professional musicians, university music majors, and career music educators—from professional development to fair pay.
Now, with 15 successful years under its belt, KO is expanding. While the organization has primarily operated in East Baton Rouge parish and Donaldsonville in Ascension parish, last year KO expanded into Jefferson parish, and this year into Orleans, with plans for St. Bernard parish in upcoming years—continuing their mission to build a community of creative, confident, and socially engaged students through music education.
With a variety of goals and deliverables to execute, Kids' Orchestra relies on a bank that cares—one that both seamlessly facilitates the organization's finances and donates to its cause with a firm belief in its objectives. Bank of St. Francisville fits the bill.
"For me, it's the instant response from people who care and know what's going on with us," Tuck said. "I can email one of the Vice Presidents, or call one of the VPs if we need something done with one of our accounts, and they respond almost instantly—and kindly."
Kelly Hurtado, Bank of St. Francisville's vice president of marketing, has worked with Kids’ Orchestra in an advisory capacity for close to a decade, and sits on its board of directors. Hurtado has seen first-hand the good the organization does. She noted that supporting non-profits like KO is an important part of BSF’s broader mission to build stronger communities—ones in which giving back is commonplace, and cultivating real buy-in to institutions that are making a genuine difference, is second nature.
"Kids' Orchestra changes lives," Hurtado said. "Bank of St. Francisville is proud to support them because investing in our kids is one of the most important things a community bank can do. Their programs give children the gift of music—a life changing gift they might not otherwise have.”
To learn more about Kids’ Orchestra, visit kidsorchestra.org.
For more information on how the Bank of St. Francisville supports organizations working towards positive change in the communities they serve, visit here.
