Marching band site developed by Alexandrian joins national music coalition

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Marching.com has joined the SupportMusic Coalition.

The coalition is a public service led by the National Association of Music Merchants and the National Association for Music Education. It seeks to strengthen community commitment and support for quality music education in schools.

Founded by Alexandria native Ken Martinson, Marching.com has been providing information and making connections in the marching community ever since it began as a pioneering site in the early days of the Web.

The coalition comprises more than 200 organizations, representing more than 7 million concerned citizens, working to ensure that music and arts instruction are part of a complete education for all children.

Since strengthening music education is a worldwide concern due to its many proven benefits for students, several international organizations also participate in the SupportMusic Coalition.

The www.marching.com site extends a positive voice across a broad array of content that includes events, links, resources, news and photos from coast to coast and around the world.

Celebrating it 15th season in 2010, Marching.com has experienced tremendous traffic growth, Martinson said.

In 2009 the site served more than 600,000 unique visitors.

“As we prepare to celebrate the 15th season of Marching.com, we recognize the role marching bands play in developing life skills and adding excitement to life,” Martinson said. “We see the research that shows music students tend to score higher on college entrance exams, and that strong music programs lead to higher graduation rates. This type of information re-energizes our commitment for Marching.com to be a positive voice and resource for the marching activity.”

The coalition invites all interested arts, parent, education, civic engagement and youth-serving organizations to become affiliates.

Affiliate organizations actively participate by contacting local, regional and state school officials, distributing pertinent information to other supporters in their communities as well as networking with other coalition members.

They are able to add tools and materials to www.supportmusic.com that advance the group’s advocacy mission and messages.

For more information and links to national, state and local organizations working together to keep music education strong, interested parties should visit www.support

music.com.

Organizations interested in participating in the SupportMusic Coalition may write to info@namm.org.

Tags: local news, marching band, ken martinson, news, alexandria, martinson