Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – IAMPV (Instituto de Artes Musicales Puerto Vallarta), a non-profit educational music institute whose mission is to bring the joy of music to children and young adults in the greater Banderas Bay area, and that serves as an umbrella organization for the Vallarta Symphony Orchestra and the Salty Paws Jazz Orchestra, needs your help.
Providing local children, many of whom are scholarship students, with education and performance opportunities through a variety of programs and instruction, IAMPV is vitally important to the cultural and educational life of Puerto Vallarta. With your support, this young, vibrant and vital organization will continue to grow.
“I know that many of you have been supporters of the orchestra in the past. I also know and understand that there are many people in need at this very difficult time, but if you are able to help IAM PV in any way, it may determine whether Banderas Bay will have an orchestra in the future. Please take a moment to read this important message that was written by our amazing conductor/musical director Daniel Oliveros,” says Puerto Vallarta Chamber Orchestra member, Mary MacLachlan.
Hello, orchestra fans, I hope this email finds you well.
As most of you know, IAM PV doesn’t receive government funding and relies solely on donors and sponsors to survive. We also get around two-fifths of our income through concert tickets throughout the year.
This year, we have had extra challenges with the global pandemic striking heavily on cultural institutions, especially those that rely on live performances. All around the globe I have heard and read about orchestras and venues closing or downsizing, with no clear end in sight.
Luckily for us, we have been able to endure this situation thanks to the relentless work of our board of directors and our supporters. They have continued looking for sponsorships, maintained a relationship with external supporting organizations, and design several mechanisms to obtain funds.
Currently, our objective is to guarantee the permanence of the Institute, which in turn means that the orchestra will continue with the same commitment and quality as always. Also, it is important that our educational program will continue to supply players for the orchestra, either the teachers who are part of IAM PV or the students themselves when they are capable. All of the activities at the institute have migrated to an online format and we continue with our effort to bring music understanding and appreciation to all social segments of PV.
Every year around this time we start a campaign that helps us continue to get through the rest of the year, including up-fronting expenses for our starting orchestra season. This time we won’t have live performances, but we still have important organizational costs that cover our educational program, our scholarship program in an impoverished neighborhood, the production and organization of the Salty Paws, and the coordination of the Vallarta Symphony Orchestra.
For our scholarship program, we are doubling efforts to bring music education to them. As most [of our students] come from homes with poor connectivity and equipment we have designed a plan that brings the possibility of receiving online lessons right into their homes, equipping them with internet access and a tablet which they can use to attend our instrument lessons and other online lessons they should receive from their schools.
In Mexico, the public school system offers TV lessons nationwide, but each student registered with their local public school should also receive additional WhatsApp lessons from their regular teacher, which sometimes is impossible for these families.
For this initial project of equipping twenty households (about thirty students) in Paso Ancho with a tablet, a 12-month internet connection, and teachers to instruct them on their instruments which we are still providing free of charge, we have allocated a 20,000 USD budget. This will also cover some administrative expenses from the organization.
The good news is that we are 75% to our goal! We received a very generous donation of $10,000 USD by an organization that has supported us in the past called the JEM Project. We are extremely grateful for this, and for the team effort that made this relationship possible. So, taking into account the rest of the donations through GoFundMe and check transfers, we just need to raise $5,000 USD more to achieve our goal for this year!
I would like to ask you to share the news and post about our fundraiser, and about our group. For the United States, we have a partnership with ETINA, a 501-c3 registered non-profit that extends tax-deductible receipts for Americans when you donate through gofundme.com or through entina.org. In Mexico, we have our own bank account and we can issue facturas if you need them. For more information, please call 322-131-8800.
I’ve seen some of you already spreading the word. Thank you! If we are able to secure funding beyond our current goal it will help to continue expanding and improving the IAM PV experience. For example, it’s been a while since we need a managing director for our operation but we can’t afford one, which splits my time between teaching, making music, and “running the business”.
We also need more specialized teachers, and having more funds will allow us to reach more students and have more concerts. All things said we need your help to make IAM PV bigger, better, and more meaningful. Thank you again for your support.
Regards,
Daniel Oliveros
Instituto de Artes Musicales IAM PV
If you believe music education is important and wish to make a donation, click HERE. No amount is too small, every little bit will help IAMPV make a difference in the lives of the children of Puerto Vallarta.