Los Altos Town Crier » Mtn. View -Whisman schools present districtwide choral concert at Shoreline

By Town Crier Staff Report

Shoreline Amphitheatre, the Los Altos/Mountain View PTA Council and the Community School of Music and Arts have scheduled a Choral Fest Monday featuring children from all the elementary and middle school choruses in the Mountain View-Whisman School District. The concert will provide an opportunity for the schools in the recently merged Mountain View-Whisman School District to work together for the first time.

The event is part of the 2002 Shoreline-CSMA Partnership in Commitment to Arts Education. The concert, free and open to the public, will begin at 6:30 p.m. on the Main Stage at Shoreline Amphitheatre, One Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View.

Families are invited to Shoreline Amphitheatre prior to the Choral Fest (gates open at 5 p.m.) to picnic and to socialize with students, families and other community members.

The Los Altos/Mountain View PTA Council conceived the idea of a districtwide collaborative event last spring. Catherine Vonnegut, co-president of the council, approached CSMA because of its longtime involvement with providing arts-in-the-schools programs in the Mountain View-Whisman district.

“We wanted to create a sense of unity for the children and teachers throughout the school district,” Vonnegut said.

“The Choral Fest represents a threefold partnership, with the coming together of a non-profit organization, a large corporation, and the PTAs and public schools,” said Evy Schiffman, CSMA’s marketing and communications director. “

Interim Superintendent Eleanor Yick said the district has had a long association with CSMA, which has also worked in partnership with the City of Mountain View and the PTA.

Russ Woods, School Board president, added, “We owe special thanks to Catherine Vonnegut, co-president of the PTA council, who first envisioned this community-building event for the newly merged school district.”

The Los Altos/Mountain View PTA Council serves all 18 school PTAs in the Mountain View-Whisman Elementary, Los Altos Elementary and Mountain View-Los Altos High School districts. CSMA is a non-profit center for arts education committed to providing arts for all, regardless of age, level, background or economic means.

For more information about the Choral Fest, call Arleen Pickett at 961-0342 or Catherine Vonnegut at 964-6982; or logon to www.shorelineamp.com, www.mvwsd.k12.ca.us or www.arts4all.org.