Donation? Help!!!! Help!!!

[Dr. Buddy Clements]

I'm trying to find some wonderful, generous music lover out there to donate a steel guitar to our high school music program. We are preparing to do a concert of Western Swing Music in May and I would love to expose my students to the magic of the steel guitar!

I have been the music director here at Walnut High School in southern California for the past 28 years. I started with a little band of 23 musicians but over the years we have grown and grown. We currently have a band program with over 240 students and a string program of about 160 musicians. We have two large string orchestras, a 240 member marching band, a jazz ensemble, 4 concert bands and a symphonic orchestra. One of the traditions that we have developed over the years is presenting a number of concerts yearly where we perform the actual arrangements that were either recorded for film or television or on the actual famous recordings (Henry Mancini, Nelson Riddle, Lawrence Welk, Percy Faith, Mantovani, Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, etc.). We have been fortunate to have a number of wonderful composers and guest artists perform with our students as well, including Hollywood legend Elmer Bernstein, among others.

We have so many wonderful, talented and gifted students. We are in the process of preparing for our annual spring Pops Concert with our orchestra. I have always wanted to expose our students to some quality Country & Western Music - and this year we're finally able to do it! I am currently arranging a Bob Wills Medley for Orchestra, which I am hoping to use steel guitar on. I would also like to put together a smaller Wester Swing Unit (ala Asleep at the Wheel & the Texas Playboys) featuring some of our top student musicians.

I am hoping that someone out there might consider donating a pedal steel guitar as a tax write-off to our high school music program (or a non-pedal steel would be great also).

Does anyone have any suggestions where I may be able to find someone who would consider making such a donation. I hate to ask, believe me, but with the current budget crisis we are experiencing in public education, its just tough to come up with the funds that we used to have.

Thanks yawl! I just joined SGF last night, but I have been amazed at what a wonderful community of musicians and music lovers you have here!

Dr. Buddy Clements
Director of Music
Walnut High School
Walnut, CA 91789