Dear Friends of Naval Academy Music,
As we write this February/March greeting, we look forward to the coming Spring months and a light at the end of the tunnel as more Covid-19 vaccines become available nationwide. We hope all is well with you and your families, and we continue in our gratitude for your steadfast support through the challenges of 2020/2021. We look forward to the opportunity to serve, with your help, USNA Music and its midshipmen.
Update from the Brigade of Midshipmen:
Ship Selection night for all Class of 2021 Surface Warfare selectees was held in early February with other warfare community events over the next several weeks, to include the annual Aviation dinner in early March with information on Flight School training dates at Pensacola.
USNA Music Program News:
Rehearsals for all musical ensembles have started and are held daily during the week. Dr. Aaron Smith plans to do several video recordings this semester, and these will be available for your enjoyment as they are produced. Pending COVID protocols, and what may be permitted at the time, Commissioning Week concerts are hopefully going to occur.
We hope you enjoyed the YouTube videos and recordings listed in previous Outreach messages. Here is a very special one that was released a few weeks ago featuring the USNA Glee Club’s rendition of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”.
Here are two additional recordings made recently for your enjoyment:
Midshipman Second Class Andre Rascoe, USNA Gospel Choir, Political Science Major and President of the Class of 2022 singing “My Soul Has Been Anchored”
The Highland Dancers of the USNA Pipes and Drums ensemble present "Marie’s Wedding” and “Highland Choreography”
Once again, thanks to our donors whose contributions to FONAM have made these recordings possible.
In December 2020, Friends of Naval Academy Music, Inc. made gift-in-kind donation of a hand-made full steel drum set (worth $20,000) to be used by the Music Department. These are being hand crafted, and we will keep you posted on their arrival.
To achieve a music bar of excellence, donations to purchase equipment such as this are why it is so important for private funds to be available for the music department.
Updating your information for FONAM donations:
We have completed transition to the new donor management system to enhance our ability to support music at USNA by helping us keep in contact with donors, track donations, and organize our fundraising efforts.
If the opportunity arises where you need to make any changes to your established donations, including changing the dollar amount or adding/deleting a specific credit card, there is an easy way to make these changes. Just follow these easy steps:
Go to this site.
If you are a current donor and have never logged in, select I forgot my login name or password. This will prompt you to enter your email address. Use the email address you used when you started your FONAM donation.
Follow the instructions in the email and login.
When you log in, you should see your name and a drop-down menu titled What do you want to do?
Select My Donation from the drop-down menu.
Near the middle of the page, you should see an option to edit your recurring donation information.
Our thanks to everyone for your continued support. Please take the time to reach out to a classmate; specifically, a former music department participant and encourage them to consider supporting a program that meant so much to them while they were at USNA. If you are not a monthly partner yet, please consider monthly recurring donations, which are so essential to our ability to make forward-looking commitments to USNA Music. Visit us here to set up your support.
Until our next FONAM Outreach Message, please stay safe, make music, and take care of yourselves and each other.