Taylor Guitars Pledges 300 Guitars to Little Kids Rock to Foster Music Education Across the Country

EL CAJON, Calif., April 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Taylor Guitars, a leading manufacturer of acoustic and electric guitars, has announced a donation pledge of 300 guitars to Little Kids Rock, the leading provider of music education and free instruments to public school children in under-served communities across the United States. Little Kids Rock currently serves nearly 110,000 children with weekly rock and pop-oriented music lessons on donated instruments.

"Little Kids Rock is so grateful to Taylor Guitars for investing in our children's creativity," says Little Kids Rock founder and executive director David Wish. "Music changes children, and children change the world. Because of Taylor Guitars, many more children will get the chance to leave their mark on the world!"

The Taylor guitars will be distributed to schools across the nation and are expected to benefit thousands of K-12 school children. On April 5, the first 40 of the 300 donated guitars were unveiled at PS 34/Franklin Delano Roosevelt Academy in New York City. These 40 are being distributed to schools across the city, and the rest of the 300 are being donated to schools across the country. The students at PS 34 were ecstatic at the opportunity for guitar instruction.

"Little Kids Rock and Taylor Guitars share a mutual affinity for fostering creativity through music education," shared Kurt Listug, CEO and Co-Founder of Taylor Guitars. "Through our gift, we're honored to enrich the lives of today's students and tomorrow's leaders."

Video: http://youtu.be/AIU6Q6GvqrA

Taylor Guitars has a rich history of partnering with leading organizations to benefit music education, including the San Diego Music Foundation, which led to the development of the Taylor Guitars for Schools program. Since 2001, the program has placed over 2,000 guitars in San Diego schools and, by all estimates, benefitted over 40,000 school-aged children.

About Little Kids Rock
Little Kids Rock is a 501 © (3) nonprofit organization that transforms children's lives by restoring and revitalizing music education in public schools. Little Kids Rock was founded in San Francisco in 2002 by David Wish, an elementary school teacher who had grown frustrated with the lack of music education funding at his school. Today, Little Kids Rock is one of the leading nonprofit providers of free lessons and instruments to underprivileged children in US public schools, and has served more than 235,000 students at over 1,600 schools in 25 cities nationwide. Little Kids Rock Honorary Board Members include Bonnie Raitt, Slash, Paul Simon, B.B. King, Ziggy Marley and other well-loved artists. More information can be found at: www.littlekidsrock.org.

About Taylor Guitars
Founded in 1974, Taylor Guitars is the world's leading manufacturer of premium acoustic and electric guitars. Renowned for blending an innovative use of modern technology with a master craftsman's attention to detail, Taylor guitars are widely considered the best sounding and easiest to play in the world. Many of today's leading musicians make Taylor their guitar of choice, including Jason Mraz, Steven Curtis Chapman, Zac Brown and Taylor Swift, among others. For additional information, please visit www.taylorguitars.com

SOURCE Taylor Guitars