Audio Video News

Sound United — parent company of Denon, Marantz, Polk Audio, Classé, Definitive Technology, and Boston Acoustics — has started a foundation dedicated to donating 10,000 musical instruments to children in need over the next three years.

The Sound Start program was introduced Tuesday at San Diego’s Finney Elementary School, one of 80 schools across the country to receive grants from the VH1 Save the Music Foundation during the 2017-2018 school year.

“Tight school funding often nixes the arts first when tough financial decisions are being made,” said Sound United CEO Kevin Duffy. “Our aim to is to help fix that problem…and continue bringing joy to the world through music by empowering future musicians with the instruments they need to create.”

To help the foundation reach its ambitious goal of purchasing and donating 10,000 instruments by the 2020-2021 school year, Sound United partnered with the VH1 Save The Music Foundation, which has donated $54 million worth of new musical instruments to over 2,000 public schools around the country since it was founded in 1997, and pledged to contribute a percentage of proceeds from the sales of Denon, Polk, and Definitive Technology products.

“Nearly one in three American public school students don’t have access to music education during their school day,” said Henry Donahue, executive director for VH1 Save The Music. “Sound Start’s commitment to deliver 10,000 instruments over the next several years will make real progress toward eliminating that gap.”

Dr. Francisco Escobedo, superintendent of San Diego’s Chula Vista Elementary School District, said the foundation is already having a positive impact. “The arts help strengthen students’ social development [and] an arts education prepares young people for success in the 21st century workplace, fostering collaboration, communication, critical-thinking, and creativity. These are essential skills in developing the ‘whole child’ and enriching the city of Chula Vista.”

For details on how to make a donation to Sound Start, visit SoundStartFoundation.org.