Behind-the-scenes with Rogers Stevens and the RTTF House Band at Miner Street Recordings.

In April, the Rock to the Future House Band went into Miner Street Recordings to record their original song, Without You, withWeathervane Music Organization and Blind Melon’s Rogers Stevens.

While the whole band helped write the song, guitarist Marc wrote the melody and vocalist Alexus wrote the lyrics. Alexus says that she was inspired by her experiences to write a song about the ways that her friendships have evolved and changed through high school.

Weathervane Music Organization helped the House Band record and mix Without You professionally at Miner Street Recordings, right around the corner from RTTF headquarters. Band members had a first-hand lesson in the technology and techniques involved in recording a single. You can check out their hard work and download Without You from Bandcamp.

Rogers Stevens, the guitarist of legendary alt-rock band Blind Melon, stopped by the studio to help the House Band come up with their awesome guitar solos. It’s not every day that the House Band gets to collaborate with a musician whose songs they cover!

Rogers and the House Band performed Without You as part of their set together at the Music for All Ball.

The House Band aren’t the only RTTF students heading to the studios to record! All of the MusiCore Kensington students will record their original songs at Miner Street later this month.

Rock to the Future is entering the second year of our Higher Education Scholarship Fund! The fund, established in honor of Jaime and Andrew Katz, will provide $1,000 awards to two of our five graduating seniors to attend college or trade school. The awards, Highest Achievement and Most Improved, honor the work that students have made in their academic and personal lives while taking part in the MusiCore after school program.

2018’s five graduating seniors Alexus, Jared, Lydia, Najah, and Richard are all eligible for scholarships.

According to Rock to the Future Founding Executive Director Jessica Craft, “The greatest obstacle for many students is finding the money to attend college or trade school. Our students work hard but unfortunately we’ve seen students passing up opportunities because they need an extra thousand dollars. The new scholarship fund will help these students achieve their dreams.”

For the past five years,100% of graduating MusiCore students attended post-secondary education (college or trade school). This year, the five graduating seniors plan to study music education, video game design, criminology, and journalism. All the seniors have already submitted their FAFSA and applied to colleges. In 2017, Rock to the Future awarded four scholarships totaling $5,000.

“It helped me out a ton. I was able to take a lot of stress off my parents, and it felt really good that I had done in a way that I felt like I earned it and accomplished something great and could make them proud,” says Sophie M.

The recipient of the Most Improved scholarship in 2017, Sophie is now studying education at Penn State, where she has just joined the honors program. “I have made so many amazing friends and memories that would not have been possible if Jess, Josh, and everyone at Rock to the future hadn’t driven me (sometimes literally) to this point and kept me motivated and wanting to learn and expand my interests since I started the program in the seventh grade.”

Rock to the Future uses music education as the foundation for academic and emotional growth. The MusiCore after-school program provides a scholarship writing club, college and trade school application support, and college visit trips for high school juniors and seniors. At Rock to the Future, students learn that being a rockstar requires dedication, practice, and hard work. As a result, Rock to the Future students are prepared to take on any stage!

ROCK OUT this summer! Spend your summer in the spotlight at Rock to the Future

Applications are now open for 2018 summer camps.
GuitarStars (July 9-13) is open to students age 7-12 who want to play guitar, bass guitar, or piano.
Rock*a*Delphia (July 23-27) is open to teens age 13-17 who want to play guitar, bass guitar, piano, or drums.

Both camps are co-ed and with no experience necessary (beginner to advanced students are welcome!), and all instruments are provided. Camps take place from 9am-4pm at Rock to the Future’s Kensington location: 2139 E Cumberland St. Philadelphia, PA 19125. Late pickup and early drop off are available.

Rock to the Future summer camps use music to inspire kids and teens to find what they love and who they want to be. Students will form bands and spend a week playing and writing music, taking part in creative workshops, making new friends, singing in the choir, and meeting future mentors. Each day, students will enjoy performances from a variety of musicians. At the end of camp, students will perform live on stage for friends and family!

Rock to the Future believes that music education should be available for every student no matter their age, ability, or address. Full scholarships are provided for low-income Philadelphia youth, and the fee is only $250 for students who do not qualify for a scholarship – see details on our summer camp page.

Music education is a critical part of growing up, and our camps help students build skills to succeed on stage and off stage. Space is limited to 35 students on a first-come, first-served basis, so please apply today!

Pop-punk legends and hometown heroes The Wonder Years headlined Boot & Saddle’s Peace & Noise 2018 concert on January 31st. They donated all proceeds from ticket sales to Rock to the Future, and Starr Hill donated all sales of Grateful Pale Ale drafts.

The Wonder Years | photo by Rachel Del Sordo for WXPN | racheldelsordophotography.com

Tickets sold out in under a minute, which ROCKS, and those sales helped us reach a matching gift of $25,000 for our year end fundraiser. We love when musicians support music education! Read about more about the show on WXPN.

We’re starting 2018 out strong thanks to our amazing supporters. Not only did we meet our $25,000 goal, we surpassed our goal by over $4,000. After adding that total to a generous donor’s $25,000 matching gift, you helped us raise over $54,000 for 2018.

A special thank you to the RTTF Board and Committee members. Also, we couldn’t have done it without the Peer to Peer fundraisers who worked non-stop to help reach our goal. Talk about rock stars!

Thank you for giving the gift of music to even more Philly youth in 2018. Your support keeps our programming free, our guitars plugged in, and our stage lights on. You rock!

On Dec. 9th, RTTF’s talented student musicians braved Philly’s first snowstorm of the season to perform for their friends, families, and community at the 2017 Winter Showcase.

Photographs by Abigail Townsend

During the Winter Showcase, MusiCore students showed off their hard work learning original music, classic covers, and holiday favorites. Eight student bands performed this year – check out some highlights!

Thanks for a wonderful year! See you in 2018.

When you see Alexus singing center stage with the RTTF House Band, you would never guess that the 12-grader used to be painfully shy. But when she first joined MusiCore five years ago, Alexus found it hard to open up and make friends. However, she’s always had a passion for music. Hearing a variety of music as a child sparked a love of “all kinds of music” that Alexus still has today.

Unfortunately, she had a hard time developing that love – Alexus didn’t have a music class in school. When her mom found Rock to the Future, she knew it would be a great fit and signed Alexus up for MusiCore. Now, Alexus looks forward to learning new songs after school. Her fall challenge piece for piano is Antidote by Faith Marie: “It’s a really nice song. It’s all piano, with complicated rhythms and time signature changes.”

Sure, it’s an impressive challenge piece, but Alexus hasn’t just grown as a musician. The once-shy Alexus is now outgoing, confident, and irrepressible.

“I’m most proud of how I’ve grown socially, and as a person… When I came to the program, I was very shy. I was very shy, and I was very quiet. I had a lot of trouble making friends, but being here helped me get over it. It helped me become more confident – I never would have performed on a stage! And I’ve made lots of friends.” – Alexus

Now, Alexus wants to give other students the same opportunities she had. She’s in the middle of college application season, and is applying to colleges known for their music education programs. “I know I love learning about music. I want to give music education to kids. I think it would help a lot of kids in the situation I was in – being shy and quiet, and not being able to open up. I think I would be a really good music teacher!”

Alexus’s story is inspiring – she really is a rockstar! Your donation to Rock to the future helps students like Alexus to find their voice, on stage and in life.

On Giving Tuesday, people donate to the charities and nonprofits that are close to their hearts. This Giving Tuesday, Nov. 28, our supporters went above and beyond for Rock to the Future! We’re already halfway to our year-end fundraising goal. We didn’t think we could get there so soon!

With your help, we can reach our goal this year and give the gift of music to underserved students in Philadelphia.

This year, every donation will be matched up to $25,000 by a generous donor – that means your donation is doubled. Thank you for your support. You rock!