Indian American Teenager’s Music Foundation Launched In Naperville

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Ashley’s Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization that was created last year by a 16 year-old Indian-American to promote music programs in underprivileged schools in Chicagoland, held a formal launch Feb. 11 at the Tall Grass Clubhouse in Naperville, Illinois.

The talented Ashley Singh, a junior at Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora, IL and a prominent member of the Waubonsie music program for the past 3 years, spoke of her passion – bringing music to all children at a young age in school.

Singh started training in Indianclassical music at the age of 4. After learning various styles for 12 years, she is convinced about the importance of music learning for young minds because she believes it helps with concentration, self confidence, and self identity, a press release said. And she speaks from personal experience.

Nothing pains the teenager more than hearing about cutbacks to music programs, and she wanted to make a difference with the foundation.

The AMF is dedicated to spreading the love music education among young children, and also has the mission of helping implement music programs in schools that do not have one.

This January, the AMF started a pilot program at Excel Academy of Englewood under the name Matanoia Choir. She plans to extend the program to other schools on south side Chicago in the academic year 2018-2019, the press release said.

Singh gave a presentation about the importance of music and the mission of AMF. MaCassa Johnson, founder and executive director of State of Emerge-ACity and advisor of AMF, and Matthew Obrzut, the principal of the Excel Academy of Englewood also spoke at the event, sharing how the pilot project at Excel was impacting the lives of students. The event formally started with a lamp lighting ceremony and the honors were done by Ashley Singh, Rita Singh, Sanjeev Singh, Johnson, Obrzut, Sunil Shah, Neil Khot, and Ashfaque Hussain Syed. In a video played at the event, the principal of Waubonsie Valley High School, Jason Stipp, expressed his support.

Ashley’s Music Foundation (AMF) was created in June of 2017 and continues to help students in Chicago Public Schools through the power of music. For more information, please visit www.amfchicago. org.