Local 293 Supports HPO School Concert Tour  

January 1, 2024

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Local 293 (Hamilton, ON) secured funding from the Music Performance Trust Fund (MPTF) to sponsor a Fall School Concert Tour with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra (HPO) throughout the Hamilton-Wentworth School District’s 13 secondary schools.  

“We managed to get MPTF funding for 16 in-school performances and one big Christmas presentation at First Ontario Concert Hall,” says Local 293 President Larry Feudo. The total amount of MPTF funding for both programs was $26,000—a boon for the orchestra members, he says, and a great way to expose students to the orchestra experience. “The educational value of presenting these performances is invaluable to the cultural enrichment of our students and gets the orchestra engaged with a younger demographic, our mutual goal being the broadening of the philharmonic audience.” 

The tour reached over 5,000 students, from October 27 to November 7, and included a brass and woodwind quintet. 

“I’ve long been an advocate of the value of educational programs such as this going back to sixth grade when the Canadian Brass played at my school,” says Feudo, adding that it inspired his own musical path. “Programs like this are vital to the cultural enrichment of young people, which is probably more important today than ever before. We are pleased to assist in funding this wonderful project and look forward to more in the near future.” 

Longtime MPTF Trustee Dan Beck notes that under Feudo’s leadership the local has been a model of union outreach and success. “They have used our funding very strategically in building membership and in creating leverage in the Hamilton community. They have done an amazing job of educating and engaging the city government in support of the musicians there,” he says. 

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