February 2021
 On almost a daily basis I am asked "How is MusicLink doing with the pandemic and everything?" I answer positively based on the many requests from those wanting to be MusicLink teachers and the feedback from parents and teachers. They are pleased with the lessons that are continuing online with their caring teachers. MusicLink supports teacher reimbursement for materials and music and our supportive business partners offer many discounts and free music to new students. Of course, there are some setbacks. We cannot enjoy the wonderful MusicLink playathons that are part of the spring performances across the country. Our Annual Report with enclosed envelope for donations was delayed into the new year because of the postal backlog over the holiday season. However, we are organizing a virtual playathon with performance videos from students and teachers as explained in this newsletter. If you missed getting our Annual Report, click on the link below and please donate to keep our MusicLink students in lessons this year.
This issue salutes MusicLink teachers who have reached a level of service from 5 years (Hall of Fame) to 19 years (Teacher of Distinction with Honors). You will definitely be impressed with their personal stories and their dedication to bring music into the lives of children. MusicLink Video SpotlightsWe are continuing to broadcast MusicLink Video Spotlights through email to share performances by our students to all who receive the LINK. We are featuring different levels of students to emphasize MusicLink's goal of bringing music lessons to students in need, from beginning to advanced levels. The February Spotlight features a montage of performances from past Minnesota MusicLink Playathons to show how communities can bring music to the public, provide an exciting performance opportunity for all music students and help raise funds for the MusicLink Foundation as well. Again, you'll find all levels, different instruments and voices and obvious fun at the Mall of America, thanks to the teachers of the Minnesota Music Teachers Association. The spotlight also presents the MusicLink's Making Music Magic for Kids Virtual Playathon described below.  Playathon Video Montage Making Music Magic for Kids |
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| Playathon Registration Form |
| Playathon Donation Card |
Instrument Donations
Help MusicLink Students
Students playing Young Chang baby grand
The pandemic shutdown has encouraged people to clear out their homes of things they no longer need. As a result, we have received ongoing donations of instruments in the past few months. The instrument donation process begins by having people complete the instrument donation form at the top of our website (musiclinkfoundation.org), and send photos to the MusicLink national office. We send out these photos to MusicLink teachers in the area of the donation (if pianos) or beyond for other instruments. In the past four months, MusicLink has placed four acoustic pianos (including one grand piano), three digital pianos, one keyboard for a new MusicLink student, and a library of piano music to a graduating MusicLink senior. We have a small inventory of violins of different sizes and qualities in storage for future use.
This past December two MusicLink students from Maple Grove, MN were gifted with a beautiful Young Chang baby grand piano by a generous donor from the Twin Cities. The piano was delivered to the delight of the whole family and has been getting a workout ever since. We hope others will generously remember the MusicLink Foundation when looking for a new home for a beloved instrument.
New Deadlines for Teacher Reimbursement and Grass Roots Grants
Realizing the importance of meeting the needs of our MusicLink teachers, the foundation has added an additional deadline for the Teacher Reimbursement Program and Grass Roots Grants. Teachers can send in applications with receipts for reimbursement up to $150 by November 15th, February 15th, and June 15th. Grass Roots Grants, which provide up to $300 in support for new Musiclink programs or projects, have the same three deadlines.
Thanks from a MusicLink Family
The following thank you note was shared by Holly Kukkonen, a MusicLink teacher in Iowa City, IA:
GRATITUDE. GRATITUDE: first and foremost a shout out to the South District neighborhood mama searching for opportunities for her 2nd grade son to learn how to play piano and dip his toes into the world of music. Thank you for reaching out to your Neighborhood Association for connections!
A big thanks to Ms. Holly K. - South District neighborhood piano teacher off Burns Ave.-for carving out a space a time to have beginner first-time-ever-playing-piano lessons that teach virtually to a kiddo who lives just a couple blocks away. So, when he CAN get together for in-person music lessons, his instructor is easily accessible nearby by bike or by foot within the same neighborhood.
A huge thanks to the MusicLink Foundation for helping to make music lessons more affordable, and gratitude to a west side Iowa City family who believes in the power of music and supports efforts connecting youth to local opportunities. They also helped make these first few months of trial lessons possible to help support the exploration of piano lessons.
Great Nonprofits Awards
MusicLink Foundation
The MusicLink Foundation prides itself on the many positive reviews it receives on the website, Great Nonprofits. The foundation received the 2020 Top-Rated Nonprofit badge for our website. We hope you can take a few moments to add your comments about MusicLink on their website:
Facebook Donations
The MusicLink Foundation has now added the process of direct donations to our organization through Facebook. Many people click on Facebook donations in connection with celebrations such as birthdays, anniversaries, or simply a group interest in supporting our organization. We continue to accept donations through our website and Network For Good as well.
New Teachers
The pandemic has encouraged new teachers to volunteer for MusicLink, with 14 new teachers signing up since mailing out our Annual Report. Total active MusicLink teachers = 271. Total overall MusicLink teachers = 3,965.
CA: Garth Cummings; IL: Janna Williamson; ME: Ryan Audy; MN: Tami Graziano, Emily Hedstrom, Randy Martens (returning); NC: Laura Dale; OH: Andrea Bock; OR: Paul Safar; SC: Emily Midulla; TX: Sarah McWatters, Rebecca Stricker; VA: Elizabeth Kilpatrick; WA: Jill Kremer
Background Check Updates Needed
A big thank you to all MusicLink teachers who have responded to our request for an updated background check to ensure that we provide careful oversight of teacher legitimacy. Along with our careful attention to student financial eligibility, MusicLink teachers and coordinators are required to have a basic criminal background check upon initial sign up. These background checks must be updated every five years, so our Assistant Director, Andrea Shore, is reaching out to those of you who need a new background check. She will need a current physical address (not a PO Box), your date of birth and your social security number. Once the background check has been completed, we do not keep any of this information on file. Your timely cooperation with this important requirement is extremely helpful.
In Memoriam: Sandra Price Owens
Sandra Price Owens of Carlisle, PA, died on December 19, 2020 following a long battle with Alzheimer's and after being infected with Covid 19. Sandy had a passion for literature, art, music and dance. She sang in several community choirs over her adult life and was an aficionado of karaoke. She continued to enjoy singing and dancing well into her years of declining health within the care of the Sarah A. Todd Memorial Home. Her sister, Jennifer Bousquet and her son, Clark Springer chose the MusicLink Foundation as a fitting organization for memorial donations. Her memorial fund totals $1700 at this time. Our thoughts are with her family at this time.
Did you know?
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Teacher of Distinction with Honors
15 - 20 Years
Teachers who have taught 15+ years through MusicLink are recognized as MusicLink Teachers of Distinction with Honors. We recognize and thank the following five teachers, who have devoted all of these years to help MusicLink students thrive through musical training.
Ruth Borash, Minnesota, local coordinator:
Ruth said, "The MusicLink Foundation has helped fulfill a purpose in my life. Being able to share music and teach piano to those in need of financial assistance brings joy to me. Hopefully, that joy is then extended to the student and to their family. In a lecture I attended several years ago, Dr. Marvin Blickenstaff said, "Try to make the time you have with a student, the best half hour of their week". Making that happen each week is a goal I strive to attain. The poster that hangs in my studio expresses well the effect of music.
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Lani Bortfeld, Connecticut:
Lani Bortfeld, founder and director of the Suzuki Talent Education Partnership, has a B.Mus. from the New England Conservatory and an M.Mus. from the University of Connecticut, and has studied with Mischa Mischakoff, Eric Rosenblith, Theodore Arm and Ariana Bronne. An active chamber and solo musician, Ms. Bortfeld has performed throughout the region with the symphony orchestras of Hartford, New Haven, Springfield and Waterbury, and as first violinist with the Arcos/iris Quartet, with whom she has performed for schools, libraries and care facilities throughout WMass.
She joined the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA) in 1981 in order to attend the International Conference being held at UMass/Amherst that summer. Seeing Shinichi Suzuki teach in person and experiencing the love in the auditorium as we watched this funny, humble, magnetic human being, was a life-changing experience which continues to inspire her teaching. She started and directed the Brightwood Suzuki Partnership (BSP) for 13 years at Brightwood Elementary School, which had one of the highest poverty rates in Springfield, MA. She taught Suzuki violin and viola in English and Spanish, and saw the price families – and especially children - paid for living in poverty.
Ms. Bortfeld has taught in the community music schools of Brookline and Springfield, MA; Storrs, CT; and the Hartford Conservatory before starting the Suzuki Talent Education Partnership in 2002. Lani writes, "It was through the SAA that I heard of MusicLink and I joined to help my Brightwood students have more opportunities. I will never forget the day at a STEP group class when we presented a full-size violin provided by MusicLink to a young man who was being raised by his grandmother who was legally blind, in a neighborhood where he couldn't safely go outside to play. He could not believe the violin was his! A few days later the tail gut broke - it's a $5 part but when it breaks, the bridge falls off and the strings all come loose – and this tough young man was in tears, thinking another dream had eluded him. We soon had it repaired and he was able to perform the Vivaldi A minor concerto at a fundraiser for his sister, who was accepted to Berklee College of Music. Today he writes and performs hip-hop songs along with his day job. He still has his violin, too. I'm grateful to MusicLink for the help students have received in paying for master classes, the music that's been donated, the hope my students have of one day owning their own instrument, and the patience of Sue Wege when my evaluations are months late!"
Anna Jeanne Flesner, Minnesota:
Anna Jeanne Flesner
Anna Jeanne said, "I first heard about the MusicLink Foundation from Sue Wege, Director of Coordinators, and our dedicated representative for MusicLink here in Minnesota. I was aware of different life circumstances that had made it difficult for local families to pay for piano lessons. From my own experience, I wanted to be a part of this organization. I started students in the MusicLink program, with some families having several children enrolled. It's a joy to see 'the light come on' when a young pianist has grasped a new musical concept and applied it. Music lifts the mind and soul, blessing the performer and others. It also opens a window to expression, confidence, joy, and worship.
"My father was the son of a piano teacher, and my mother as a child was afforded ten piano lessons. She enjoyed developing those limited skills even late in her life for personal musical enjoyment. Although my parents were struggling farmers post WWII, they made sure that my brother and I were given piano and instrument lessons; making music a major part of our growing up years. My brother also had voice lessons, and later earned a Choral Master's Degree. At age six I started piano lessons and my love of music. By age twelve I was accompanying the school choir and at church. As an adult, I have been an accompanist for churches, school and college choirs, local choruses, Affiliated Male Choruses of America mid-west "Big Sings", regional Prairie Arts Choral, and the Laura Wilder Pageant Singers.
"I had fifteen years of private piano lessons and later took college music courses at Martin Luther College, New Ulm, MN, and The College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, MN to become a National Certified Teacher of Music. In 1983, when finances did not allow for piano lessons, I started to teach our own four children. Soon their friends wanted lessons and my studio grew. The National Music Teachers Association, Piano Guild, and the National Federation of Music Clubs have been great tools to advance my piano teaching skills. For fifteen years I have had MusicLink students and have been privileged to see them achieve such things as school accompanist, church accompanist, teacher of beginning students, senior recitalist, participant in local competitions and fundraisers, and local and national scholarship recipient. One high school student walked across town each time for practice at a brother's home with a piano. In a few years she was accompanying at school. If you have not taught a student through MusicLink in your studio, I highly recommend that you try it. It will bless a student's life for years to come and your own, as you pass on your love of music."
Tatyana Hearne, Virginia:
After receiving her degree in piano pedagogy from the Gniessen State Music Institute in Moscow, Tatyana taught foreign diplomats there for nearly twenty years. Upon moving to Northern Virginia, she opened her studio here, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year. Tatyanna said, "Throughout my teaching career, my professional objective has always been to inspire my students, regardless of their family income, to do their very best at the piano while developing a life-long love for music. Some of them have gone on to Oberlin Conservatory, Berklee School of Music, and Catholic University. MusicLink has certainly enabled me to fulfill that objective by sending me very talented and hard-working students who are a joy to teach."
Teacher of Distinction
10 - 14 Years
MusicLink Teachers of Distinction are those that are actively teaching now and have taught through MusicLink for 10 to 14 years. We recognize the service of the teachers in this category and show the total number of years and students taught.
- Laura Elena Jáuregui Wynter, Oregon, 10 years, 12 students
- Holly Kukkonen, Iowa, 10 years, 8 students
- Mary Jo Leier, Minnesota, 10 years, 17 students
- Ruth Sadilek, Oregon, 10 years, 8 students
- Jean Vilkelis, New York, 10 years, 4 students
- Lynelle Vogel, Indiana, 10 years, 65 students
- Judy Zylstra, Illinois, 10 years, 13 students
 Mary Jo Leier |
 Holly Kukkonen |
 Lynelle Vogel |
 Ruth Sadilek |
 Judy Zylstra | |
 Laura Elena Jáuregui Wynter | |
Hall of Fame
5 - 9 Years
Teachers reach the MusicLink Hall of Fame when they have taught for five to nine years. We are honored to recognize 17 teachers for reaching this category - with our thanks for their dedication to teaching deserving students through MusicLink.
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