University student Megan McCornack sang choir in high school for free. When she returned to her school recently, things had changed; funding for the program had been cut, and students were forced to pay a fee to participate.
After that, McCornack was inspired to do something to fix the dire state of public high school music programs.
This weekend, she will do just that. As her senior project for the University’s School of Music, McCornack has organized Project: Sing On!, a benefit concert aimed at raising money for dwindling area high school choral programs.
Choirs from South Eugene, Sheldon, Willamette and Springfield high schools will perform at the event, and all proceeds from the night will be split evenly among the four performing schools. The University’s a capella groups Divisi and On the Rocks also will perform but will not benefit financially from their participation.
“My expectation is for education and awareness…to inform the community,” McCornack said. “People in this area are not aware that it’s happening here under our noses.”
McCornack feels a real passion for music, having participated in choir all throughout high school as well as performing with Divisi for three years in college.
“Music is what I connect to, how I express myself,” she said.
Her positive experience with music in high school is what led her to want to save public school music programs, which she believes are necessary to child development.
McCornack believes music programs deserve more funding instead of suffering budget cuts because they “are essential in the same way that sports programs are. There’s some sort of unexplained power that music has over people to come together and unify,” she said. “It’s a universal language.”
Project: Sing On! will be held this Saturday, April 28 at 7:00 p.m. in the South Eugene High School auditorium. Tickets are $5 for students and seniors and $8 for the general public, and tickets are available at the door or at the EMU ticket office.
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