Dr. Carrie Magin, professor of composition and theory at Houghton University, recently received the Arts Education grant from the Arts Council for Wyoming County (ACWC).

The grant – aimed at funding opportunities to engage public school students aged kindergarten through high school in artistic learning experiences – will allow Magin to compose a new band piece to be premiered by the Letchworth Junior Band in June 2018. Jason Decker, director of the junior band and an instructor of tuba and instructor of woodwind techniques at Houghton, will conduct the piece.

Additionally, Magin will offer composition workshops at Letchworth Central Schools, which will provide students with an opportunity to develop their musical skills while also gaining an in-depth view of the composition process.

Magin and Decker were awarded a similar grant for 2016-2017, and this past year, 53 junior band students wrote formal business letters to Dr. Magin, requesting her to return and compose an opening work for the band and teach composition.

“Engaging students in the arts is extremely important for our future,” remarks Magin. “These young band students may not become professional composers, but they will become members of society who attend orchestra concerts, visit art galleries, and understand the beauty and importance of the arts in our world.”

Magin will have her Carnegie Hall debut this May as her piece “Heart-Fire,” commissioned by the Georgia College Choral Ensembles, premieres at the prestigious New York City venue.

The Arts Council for Wyoming County, founded in 1976, provides arts and cultural programs for the rural community. For more than 40 years, the ACWC has presented the Letchworth Arts and Crafts Show, which hosts over 300 artisans, artists, and craftpersons from throughout the country. The ACWC also exhibits the work of Western New York artists in its various galleries.