Timeline


1983 The Academy of Community Music is founded by Philadelphia Orchestra violinist Robert dePasquale and his wife Ellen Fisher, with the mission of engaging children and parents in musical activity regardless of musical ability, physical or cognitive challenges, or economic difficulty.

1984 The Academy’s first major project – raising funds to save Church Hill Hall from demotion – meets with success.  The newly renovated Church Hill Hall, a beautiful Georgian residence on the grounds of St. Thomas’ Whitemarsh, becomes home to the Academy, which gains distinction as the only school of Suzuki music education in the Delaware Valley.

1985 The Academy begins its nationally acclaimed Crescendo outreach program, offering educational and therapeutic music classes to preschool children with special needs across Philadelphia.  Since its inception, Crescendo has reached over 25,000 children and parents in some of Philadelphia’s most underserved neighborhoods.

1988 “Champagne & Strings,” an annual Academy fundraising concert, is launched at the elegant Wyndmoor home of Jim and Frannie Maguire.  Its performers have included the dePasquale Quartet, with Peter Benoliel and Dick Doran, and scores of Academy and Crescendo students.  Its guests have included such valued Academy friends as William and Louisa Foulke (one of the Academy’s earliest and most esteemed board chairmen), Wanton Balis (an invaluable Academy donor and Philadelphia Orchestra board chairman), and Maestro Riccardo Muti.


"For children, I will kneel."
Riccardo Muti with Academy students Benjamin Bergman
and Monica Hoy at Champagne & Strings. 
From left to right: Jim and Frannie Maguire, William Foulke,
Robert dePasquale, Louisa Foulke, and Ellen Fisher.

1989 The Philadelphia Orchestra has Suzuki players from the Academy perform in its Children’s Concert series.  A second performance with the Orchestra is enjoyed by Academy musicians in 1993.

1992 Crescendo children and Academy musicians take part in “Ciao Muti,” a farewell concert to the chairman of our Advisory Board, Maestro Riccardo Muti, as he prepares to depart after leading the Philadelphia Orchestra for 10 years.

1992 With funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Academy develops its Crescendo Parental Involvement Initiative, which has given more than 12,000 families a chance to fill their homes with the same songs and activities that their children are learning in their Crescendo classes.  Parents who use the Initiative to take part in their children’s musical and developmental progress report discovering many new ways to help, understand, and enjoy their youngsters.

1994 The Academy introduces Community Music Services, which features the Crescendo, Forte and Harmony programs, for preschool children, school-age children, and older adults and adults with special needs, respectively.  These programs focus specifically on serving individuals challenged with disabilities and economic disadvantage, and have benefited over 30,000 people to date.

1995 World-famous pianist André Watts joins us at the Academy of Music for a special performance, “Philadelphia’s Matinée with André,” with 100 Suzuki players from the Academy and 200 Crescendo singers from early-intervention centers and shelters all over Philadelphia.  Watts remarks: “Working with the Academy was like being part of a family…. My best to all of you always.”

Academy co-founders Ellen Fisher and Robert dePasquale
alongside pianist André Watts

1996 With André Watts as its national chairman, the Academy launches Special Performances USA: A Way Everyone Can Play.  In the spirit of the Special Olympics, this concert series gives Crescendo children and Harmony adults an opportunity to share the stage with caring celebrities, applauded by packed houses of family members, friends and community members.

1998 Crescendo reaches milestone of serving 10,000 children and parents and begins operating in Philadelphia School District Head Start centers.  After 15 years of dedicated service as an outstanding volunteer, Alice (Mikie) Fernley becomes chairman of the Academy’s board, and goes on to provide more than a decade of distinguished leadership.

1999 Special Performances USA offers concerts up and down the Avenue of the Arts, from the Philadelphia Clef Club to the Academy of Music, and features Crescendo singers, Academy players, and such devoted Academy advocates and advisory board members as Carl J. Atkins, Harold Carmichael and Garry Maddox.

May 2000 The Academy partners with the Protect the Dream Foundation to produce “Celebrate the Magic,” a memorial tribute to Grover Washington, Jr., hosted by Bill Cosby, appearing with our Crescendo children, and featuring such notable musicians as Stevie Wonder, Isaac Hayes, David Amram and Freddie Cole.

2001 Crescendo receives the Great Friend to Kids Award from the Please Touch Museum.

2002 Special Performances USA begins hosting “Celebrate the Children” at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, giving hundreds of Crescendo children each year a chance to be applauded and appreciated by their families and our Academy friends.

2004 Crescendo reaches milestone of serving 20,000 children and parents.

2005 Crescendo receives Coming Up Taller "Certificate of Excellence" from the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, and is honored with subsequent certificates in 2007 and 2008.  Academy co-founder, Ellen Fisher, receives our First Annual Crescendo Hero Award, and David Himmer, a graduate of the Crescendo program, is given our First Distinguished Alumnus Award, at the 20th Crescendo Anniversary benefit concert in which he shares the stage with acclaimed pianist Leon Bates.

May 2006 Second Annual Crescendo Hero Award presented to Carl J. Atkins, revered musician, educator, and national consultant to arts organizations, for his outstanding service to the Academy and its Crescendo children.

May 2007 Third Annual Crescendo Hero Award presented to Jim and Frannie Maguire, longtime Academy champions and donors, and hosts of such major fundraising events as “Champagne & Strings” and “Our Anniversary with André.”

May 2008 Fourth Annual Crescendo Hero Award presented to Pat Ciarrocchi and Ukee Washington of CBS 3 Eyewitness News, beloved hosts of our “Celebrate the Children” concerts since 2002.

November 2008 André Watts returns to help the Academy celebrate 25 years of making music with special “Anniversary with André” performances. The concerts, held at the Philadelphia Cricket Club and the First Presbyterian Church in Germantown, feature pianist André Watts, violinist/violist Ellen dePasquale, violinist Caeli Smith, Distinguished Alumnus David Himmer, the Keystone State Boychoir, Academy musicians and Crescendo singers.