Frederic Bacon-Shone Memorial

Frederic Bacon-Shone Memorial We aim to continue "Dr. B's" legacy of music education to inspire future generations of students. We have a Platinum Seal of Transparency.

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports music education for K-12 California public school students through grants to DonorsChoose and direct grants to educators. Our full details and financials are available at tinyurl.com/FBSMGuideStar.

Check out this video montage from Ms. Finlayson, Music Director at Pioneer High School - Woodland. Their jazz band recei...
07/03/2026

Check out this video montage from Ms. Finlayson, Music Director at Pioneer High School - Woodland. Their jazz band received a direct grant from us last year to help purchase new embroidered blazers. These young music ambassadors look and sound sharp!

There are so many paths to musical inspiration. It's wonderful to see students of all ages, including the young musician...
06/29/2026

There are so many paths to musical inspiration. It's wonderful to see students of all ages, including the young musicians in Mrs. Gutierrez's class at Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in Pacoima, enjoying the benefits of a drum circle. The drums were funded through our partnership with DonorsChoose, with a big boost from 37 other donors including the Johnson Ohana Foundation and numerous supporters from Music Makes Our Students Smarter. Thank you all for helping inspire the next generation through music!

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Dear Frederic Bacon-Shone Memorial Fund,

Thank you for helping me give my students a sense of inclusivity, belonging, and unity within a drum circle.

Drum circles can be a tool for unity and healing, while helping students feel connected. Regular participation in drum circles can help strengthen and evolve the brain, which can benefit all learners. Drum circles can be a casual way for my students to learn from each other, while promoting teamwork and collaboration. There's no head or tail to the circle, and everyone has something to offer. This is the power of inclusivity.

Our drum circle will teach these kiddos what can't be taught from any textbooks. I'm looking forward to witnessing their joy and incredible social and emotional growth as they forge powerful bonds through our drum circle. Thank you for your support!

Words can’t express how elated I am that my project was fully funded. Thank you for your generosity. As the saying goes, “It takes a village." Well, my village really stepped up.

A million Thank you’s are not enough!

With gratitude,
Mrs. Gutierrez

Great pictures & video from Dennis Boyle's music classes at Ruth Clarke Harding Elementary School BCSD in Bakersfield. T...
06/26/2026

Great pictures & video from Dennis Boyle's music classes at Ruth Clarke Harding Elementary School BCSD in Bakersfield. They won a grant from us this year to perform at Knott's Berry Farm. You sound fantastic!

It shouldn't just be the rich kids who get to make the cool sounds. We recently partnered with DonorsChoose, Optimum, an...
06/24/2026

It shouldn't just be the rich kids who get to make the cool sounds. We recently partnered with DonorsChoose, Optimum, and others to bring brass mutes to Mr. Alcantar's jazz band at Barack Obama Global Prep Academy in LA, so these young musicians could add the expressive colors and timbres the composers intended. The kids have been so excited to experiment with these new sounds! Thank you for expanding musical inspiration to these students.

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Dear Frederic Bacon-Shone Memorial Fund,

At our school, our students show up every day with passion, curiosity, and a deep love for music. For our jazz band, I requested instrument mutes, small tools that make a powerful difference. These mutes are essential for creating authentic jazz sound, color, and expression, allowing students to explore the true colors of jazz, elevating their performance with personality and artistry.

For many of our students, this is their first opportunity to experience these new sounds. They work hard, they listen deeply, and they deserve access to the same resources as any young musician. At our Title I school, resources like these go a very long way. We are deeply grateful for your belief in our students and the power of music education.

Thank you so much for your kind generosity! The joy in the faces of my students when these items arrived was priceless! They quickly asked to see if they could try them out so that they could figure out the various sounds these mutes would make. Soon enough, we had a chance to try them with our music! The jazz band was able to use their new mutes at their first adjudicated festival. The piece that called for harmon mutes was the Horace Silver tune, Song For My Father, and the colors the students created on the final chord were so cool!

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for supporting our jazz band students. Your generosity provides more than just instrument mutes; it gives our students access, opportunity, and a chance to truly express themselves through music. Because of you, our students can explore the rich colors of jazz, grow in confidence, and experience the joy of performing music at a deeper level. Your support goes a long way in showing them that their voices matter and their efforts are valued. Thank you for believing in our students and investing in their creativity. Your kindness will be heard in every note they play. We look forward to using these mutes more and more in the years to come!

Please feel free to follow our Instagram account and learn more about our program: barackobamamusic

With gratitude,
Mr. Alcantar

Students of all ages love to showcase their skills in school musicals, so we were happy to partner with DonorsChoose and...
06/22/2026

Students of all ages love to showcase their skills in school musicals, so we were happy to partner with DonorsChoose and W. Kamau Bell's Big Student Surprise to help Mrs. Mayfield's class at Arbolita Elementary in La Habra with supplies to help them build costumes and sets for "Winnie the Pooh." What a fun way to inspire kids through music!

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Dear Frederic Bacon-Shone Memorial Fund,

Wow! Thanks for adding a little extra magic to our school by donating to our performing arts program. Our students have been working so hard memorizing lines, learning choreography, and helping with our costuming and set.

Students here are dedicated to Visual and Performing Arts. Whether it is attending our weekly piano classes or honing our painting skills, students are passionate about the arts. We have partnered with Disney Musicals in Schools to bring "Winnie the Pooh" to our school. This is the fifth year Disney Musicals in Schools will be here, and we are beyond excited. Our partnership with Disney Musicals in Schools builds connections between students and our La Habra community. Thank you so much for supporting our growing program by funding a storage closet and bins to organize our costume materials. This enables our students to help sew and create costumes using the Cricut machines, glue guns, and sewing supplies.

When students saw our boxes of materials arrive, they could not wait get started on our props such as cardboard vegetables, socks, and utensils. We are helping students use the cardboard cutters to saw shapes out of the cardboard so they are ready to paint. We have a carrot, peas, and more. We are also utilizing our tools and storage system that were donated to keep our projects organized.

We are beyond thankful and grateful for all of the generous donations. Our Winnie the Pooh musical will be amazing (and many more shows for years to come) thanks to donations from people like you. We truly appreciate you!

With gratitude,
Mrs. Mayfield

What happens when music is pleasant for some, but problematic for others? Time to help out with creative solutions! Mr. ...
03/22/2026

What happens when music is pleasant for some, but problematic for others? Time to help out with creative solutions! Mr. Vilozny's enthusiastic student drummers were creating a bit too much noise for their school neighbors, so we partnered with DonorsChoose and 12 others, including W. Kamau Bell's Big Student Surprise, to provide a class set of drum pads for his students at Gault Elementary School in Santa Cruz. Now, everyone's enjoying the music! Thanks for helping bring this project to life.

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Dear Frederic Bacon-Shone Memorial Fund,

Thank you for supporting music education in public schools! I asked for practice drum pads and drum sticks for so my students could practice at a safe and comfortable volume level.

We love drumming in music class, but our classroom is right in the center of the main building. This makes it is too loud for all of the kids to drum together at the same time. With a class set of drum practice pads and drum sticks, we can all practice rhythms together at a reasonable volume so it is not too loud for either the kids or the adjacent classrooms.

A giant thank-you from all our students, and from me, for contributing to our music class percussion Donors Choose project. The full class set of drumsticks and drum-pads arrived at our school over the holiday break - just in time to start our new drum unit. For our first day of classes back from break, we unboxed the sticks and drum pads. The students were so excited! We have been using the pads and sticks in every class from grades 2-5 so far in this new year and the students are loving it. My neighboring teachers are so appreciative of these drum pads because they are quiet enough when I close my doors that the practice pad drumming does not disturb the other classes.

Your kindness will reach thousands of diverse elementary students through the years. Students will be able to play more instruments and experience more music-making as a result of your action. Thank you!

With gratitude,
Mr. Vilozny

Music makes every lesson better! When Mr. Catrina asked to "harmonize democracy" by requesting a keyboard to support his...
03/15/2026

Music makes every lesson better! When Mr. Catrina asked to "harmonize democracy" by requesting a keyboard to support his social studies courses at Dos Palos High School in the San Joaquin Valley, we happily pitched in along with DonorsChoose, the Gates Foundation, the Bezos Family Foundation, and the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation to help make Mr. Catrina's vision a reality. Mr. Catrina describes his inspirational project so well - please read his note below to learn how this new keyboard is transforming his students' learning. Thank you for your support!

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Dear Frederic Bacon-Shone Memorial Fund,

I'm Mr. Catrina, a teacher with 25 years of experience! I believe in engaging both hemispheres of the brain to enhance learning.
By integrating music into my teaching, I aim to enrich my classroom activities and lectures.

I requested a piano keyboard to help make my lessons in US Government, Economics, Philosophy, and Ethnic Studies more engaging and interactive. Music is a powerful tool that taps into multiple intelligences and boosts student engagement.

A piano keyboard in the classroom helps me enhance lectures, making them more interactive; promote creativity by allowing students to incorporate music into their projects; and stimulate learning by helping students grasp complex concepts through musical elements.

I’ve previously used music through online zoom sessions during the pandemic, and the feedback was incredibly positive. Students were more engaged and understood complex ideas better. The keyboard will make lessons more dynamic and cater to diverse learning styles with multisensory experiences. Your support not only enhances my teaching capabilities, but also greatly benefits my students by providing them with a more engaging and comprehensive learning experience.

Thank you for contributing to "Melodies of Democracy: Harmonizing Social Studies with Music." This will begin some new ideas I have that I think will enhance student learning in my various classes. I will endeavor to use this donated item to the best of my ability.

Thank you for helping my students by being a part of education in a rural environment. This new keyboard will go towards making learning more equitable for all learning modalities. Thank you for your sacrificial giving.

With gratitude,
Mr. Catrina

Even the most expensive instruments and most experienced players need quality supplies to sound their best. That's why w...
02/26/2026

Even the most expensive instruments and most experienced players need quality supplies to sound their best. That's why we partnered with DonorsChoose, the Gates Foundation, and the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation to provide new strings and instruction books to Mr. Gonzalez's mariachi program at James A. Garfield Senior High School in Los Angeles. These simple tools have transformed students' experience as they learn guitarron and vihuela. Read all about it below!

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Dear Frederic Bacon-Shone Memorial Fund,

My students are hungry to learn music that represents their culture and heritage. Due to the lack of instruments, we have to share. Help me increase the number of students who want to learn Guitarron and Vihuela with these additional supplies. This will help me reach more students by providing a proper mariachi education after school.

Your donation is greatly appreciated and will be put to great use. My students do not have the resources to seek out private instruction. This project helps provide students with a positive experience and supports their musical curiosity. My students and I are excited to continue our venture as mariachi musicians and ready to represent our culture.

When our new strings and instruction books arrived, it honestly felt like a fresh start for our mariachi classroom. Many of my students had been practicing on worn or mismatched strings, so being able to replace them immediately improved tuning, tone quality, and overall confidence. The first day we installed the strings together became a lesson in itself — students learned proper stringing technique, instrument care, and why sound quality matters. When they played their first scales afterward, several students looked up and said, "That sounds way better!" — and it truly did.

We are now actively using the instruction books during sectional rehearsals. Students are working through technique exercises and applying them directly to our current repertoire. One moment that stood out was watching a newer player successfully complete a shifting exercise from the book and then perform the same passage correctly in a song we're preparing — something they had struggled with before.

Our next step is to continue building technique and ensemble precision as we prepare for upcoming performances and festival participation. Students are setting weekly skill goals using the books and tracking their progress. These resources are not just supplies — they are tools that are helping my students grow as musicians and take pride in their progress. Your support is directly shaping their musical journey.

Thank you very much for your generosity. My students will be better equipped to fulfill their musical potential by having the necessary tools to move forward. Their passion for music is what is the driving force to my teaching and that can't happen without the help of people like you.

With gratitude,
Mr. Gonzalez

We love the creativity of Mr. Bennett's "STEAM" project at Robert Fulton College Preparatory in Van Nuys. Building their...
02/25/2026

We love the creativity of Mr. Bennett's "STEAM" project at Robert Fulton College Preparatory in Van Nuys. Building their own PVC-pipe instrument by carefully calculating and measuring each tuned tube, then learning to play their new creation is such a cool way for kids to learn how music and math fit together in practical and fun ways. We were excited to partner with DonorsChoose, United and the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation to bring this vision to life!

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Dear Frederic Bacon-Shone Memorial Fund,

Thank you so much for giving my students supplies to learn, build, and play their own instruments!

My Student-Built Musical Instrument project teaches students about the math and science of music. Incorporating algebra, science, and engineering, the students are taught how sound and musical pitch works. Students, in small groups, use algebra to calculate the frequencies of musical notes on a 4-octave scale. Students then calculate the length and size of tubing required to produce a given frequency or pitch. Students then assemble pieces of PVC tubing such that each individual tube will produce a given frequency/pitch when struck by a paddle. The group-built tubes are connected together, making a single instrument. (The instrument resembles a sort of marimba made of tubes.) Each student gets a chance to accurately tune each tube and then is taught to play the instrument. Students are encouraged (but not required) to play a piece of music of their choosing, in a recital-style performance for their fellow students and parents.

I can't believe it; thank you so very much. I am so excited that this project was funded. The kids are going to have a blast, and it is all because of you! You are simply incredible!

With gratitude,
Mr. Bennett

Here are some pictures from one of our 2025-2026 direct grant winners, Ms. Ichikawa-Masi, who requested a handpan for he...
02/08/2026

Here are some pictures from one of our 2025-2026 direct grant winners, Ms. Ichikawa-Masi, who requested a handpan for her 3rd-grade classroom at Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12 PTSA. She wrote:

"What I love most is that there are no “wrong” notes on a handpan, so every single one of my students can create something beautiful. They’ll feel the vibrations, hear how different rhythms affect their mood, and discover that they have the power to calm themselves through music. This will transform their learning because instead of just talking about self-regulation, they’ll actually experience it.
My goal is to introduce my students to handpan music and help them discover that they can use creative practices like music and rhythm for self-regulation and calm."

Such a beautiful project! As one of our board members commented, "We would all be better adults if a teacher had taught us mindfulness as children.”

Here are pictures of the students exploring the handpan we provided. Thank you, Ms. Ichikawa-Masi, for inspiring the next generation through music!

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711 S Mentor Avenue
Pasadena, CA
91106

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