Cal State San Bernardino is now one of only 40 universities across the United States that has been accepted by the National String Project Consortium (NSPC) as a new String Project site.

The String Project provides practical hands-on training for undergraduate string education majors during their college years and gives children the opportunity to study a stringed instrument.

“Last fall, I applied for this national grant with the assistance of Julie Nichols (senior director of development), Bob Knop (professor and chair of the music department), Deborah Logan (administrative analyst/specialist for development), and Alicia Corral (development associate for the College of Arts and Letters),” said Lucy Lewis, director of orchestral studies in the music department. “This is a big deal as there are only 40 university String Project sites nationally and the grant application process is very competitive.”

CSUSB will receive about $25,000 for the project, which will serve a dual purpose: first, it will provide music education to the local community through the development of a pre-college string music education program that will offer lessons and ensemble instruction to students who would not otherwise be able to afford the cost of string music instruction. And second, it will include allocations for paid collegiate string music major teaching assistantships for the project, ultimately providing a training ground for CSUSB string music majors who want to develop their teaching skills.

The funding support will be spread out over the first five years and then by year six, the project is expected to be self-supporting.

NSPC was originally formed in 1998 under the auspices of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA). It is now an independent nonprofit organization that works with ASTA and other music organizations to serve string education and string development across the country.

Visit the National String Project Consortium website at stringprojects.org to learn more about the organization and its mission.

For more information, visit the CSUSB Department of Music website.