‘Beat 4 Beat’ fundraiser feat. Grupo Fantasma and Jaime Ospina on June 1st

Austin-based music nonprofit “Beat 4 Beat” is thrilled to announce the first of many upcoming fundraising events on Thursday, June 1, 2023 at The Belmont (located at 305 W 6th St, Austin, TX 78701), featuring music from GRAMMY-winning Latin funk orchestra Grupo Fantasma with Colombian melody maker Jaime Ospina (lead singer for Superfonicos) opening the show. Doors are at 7 p.m. and tickets start at $30. Beat 4 Beat is a 501c3 nonprofit organization currently providing music education for Austin-area school districts and private schools via their free after-school music classes. Beat 4 Beat’s mission is to develop confidence and community in underserved youth in Central Texas through after school music education. Taught by professional local musicians, their curriculum is inspired by students’ interests, providing opportunities for expression and empowerment. The June 1 event will benefit Beat 4 Beat’s free after school music programs. Various ticket tiers and sponsorship levels are available for purchase here. Media are also invited to attend and may email here to RSVP. For more information about “Beat 4 Beat,” see www.beat4beat.org. To donate to Beat 4 Beat, see here.

Beat 4 Beat was established in 2014 by Mark Turk, Founder and Executive Director of Beat 4 Beat, after he spent decades in the music industry performing, recording, touring with local musicians, audio engineering and teaching music classes for public and private schools, as well as private music lessons on bass, guitar, piano, and voice. After working with at-risk students in AISD, and discovering the needs of music education in public schools, Mark saw how beneficial music was to these children. The students gained new friendships, attended classes more regularly and showed more interests in academics. Following this realization, Mark started hiring his musician friends to be the student instructors, giving them supplemental income while chasing their musical aspirations, and thus Beat 4 Beat was born.

Beat 4 Beat’s curriculum is guided and designed around the student’s interests to keep them engaged in the classroom. The delivery is intended to create a lifelong relationship with music, and bring them greater cultural awareness. The classes are taught by professional, working musicians from Austin and Central Texas, which allow the students to learn important musical lessons used in the real world, as well as gain knowledge of music as a career from a professional. The end of term goal is performing together on stage during special showcases, featuring student bands alongside local and national artists. Donating to Beat 4 Beat helps provide a safe space for students (Pre-K, Grades K-12, and young adults at local recreation centers and YMCA locations) to express themselves creatively and empower them to learn new skills, it helps them build confidence and a sense of self and gives them equal opportunity to study music, no matter where they come from.

While the majority of in-school time music ed is focused on traditional or classical music and musicianship, or other music programs are offered off-campus somewhere that a parent would have to drive their kids to get to – Beat 4 Beat is actively meeting kids where they are, going to the schools, many of which are low-income neighborhoods, and engaging students with music they already love.