Meet Pinney Allen, the head of the Atlanta Girls’ School and a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Board of Directors. As chair of the orchestra’s Education Committee, Pinney knows firsthand the importance of supporting music education and the impact the Atlanta Symphony’s education outreach efforts can have on today’s students.
Why is music education is important?
In today’s world, creativity, curiosity, empathy, perseverance and risk-taking may be the most important qualities our students can have. What better source than music to develop these skills! And equally important, music opens a world of beauty and wonder.
What made you decide to become involved with the ASO’s education programs and initiatives?
I have been passionate about music and education all of my life. Well, maybe the education passion came a little bit later! My piano teacher was, without question, the most influential teacher in my life, and the lessons I learned from her have inspired me since the first day I sat at her piano. My decision to become involved with the Atlanta Symphony has allowed me to marry these two passions!
How would you describe the orchestra’s vision for music education?
The orchestra cannot provide music education to all of Atlanta’s young people, but what it can do is be a thought leader on music education and provide leadership on the many and varied fronts that music education demands.
Why is it important for the orchestra to be an advocate of music education in the community?
The Atlanta Symphony is the most important music organization in Atlanta and must assume the mantle of visionary in this critical area. I view the orchestra as a citizen of Atlanta with obligations and commitments to give back and make our city even better.
Can you describe the impact of the orchestra’s education programs in?the community?
Literally tens of thousands of children experience live orchestral music on the Woodruff Arts Center campus annually — an opportunity that they couldn’t possibly expect to get within the walls of their schools. Equally as important, Atlanta Symphony musicians are “unsung heroes,” spending hours upon hours in schools doing community volunteer work that is vital, particularly in a time when music and other arts programs are losing support. And who wouldn’t enjoy one of the orchestra’s Family Concerts, which introduce children to the wonders of classical music in an approachable environment? Finally, the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra provides an opportunity for very talented youth to come together to play at an incredibly high level and pursue a lifelong career in music, if desired. There is no school in Atlanta — public or private — that can provide that experience.
Do you have any particular memory of an orchestra education event or program that stands out in your mind?
The Family Concerts have given me incredibly fond memories of enjoying music with my own children, and mirror the many times my own parents exposed me to the performing arts.
On Feb. 18, the orchestra will host its second annual Symphony Gala, a fundraiser benefiting the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra and Talent Development Program. Why is it so important to support music education?
The answer is simple. We have a moral obligation to the next generation to give it every possible tool to be successful in a world growing exponentially more complex and changing at an unprecedented rate. This world will demand more of them than we probably can imagine, and music education is a critical part of preparing them for it.
Are you a musician? If so, what instrument?
I played, and continue to play, the piano. The last piece I studied seriously was the Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor. I never mastered it, and probably never will, but that doesn’t mean I won’t sit down and take a stab at it from time to time. And I play other works, both classical and “less so” often. I also played the French horn in band and orchestra and played the organ, serving as a “fill-in” church organist in the summer. I took a brief stab at the cello and was a total failure.
If you could only give someone ONE reason to donate to music education, what would it be?
If you support music education, you will change lives.
Anything else you’d like to share?
I wish every child could have the opportunity to know and enjoy music the way I have throughout my life. Music has the power to change and enrich a life in a way that nothing else can.
