Dyersburg native Frances Belcher connects former Bridges program with The Jackson Symphony Music Academy after reading national magazine feature
JACKSON, Tenn. — More than 125 youth-size violins, violas and cellos, along with additional musical equipment, will soon have a new home with The Jackson Symphony Music Academy, thanks to a donation from the former Bridges Music Program in Baltimore, Maryland. The shipment is expected to arrive Monday, October 12, at The Jackson Symphony office, providing additional resources for young musicians in Jackson and communities throughout West Tennessee.
The connection began when Frances “Sissy” Belcher, a classically trained musician who grew up in Dyersburg, read “A Stage for Every Voice,” a feature in the League of American Orchestras’ Symphony magazine highlighting the Academy and its Regional Music Centers. Belcher attended the University of Tennessee at Martin and the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, where her classical music studies brought her to Baltimore. She recognized a familiar mission in The Jackson Symphony’s programs: giving children access to quality music education regardless of their financial circumstances or where they live.
As a former board member of Bridges, Belcher knew the Baltimore program’s string instrument inventory needed a new home following its closure. She saw The Jackson Symphony Music Academy and its Regional Music Centers as an ideal place for those instruments and musical equipment to continue serving students.
Founded in 2006, Bridges provided after-school string instruction for Baltimore children, offering instruments at no cost to families, small-group lessons and opportunities to perform in an orchestra. Following an extended furlough in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bridges ultimately closed as funding dwindled. The donation will carry that commitment forward, placing instruments once used by Baltimore students into the hands of young musicians in West Tennessee.
The Jackson Symphony’s Regional Music Centers bring free string and choral instruction into communities where access to music education has often been limited. Together with the Music Academy’s ensembles in Jackson, these programs give students a pathway from beginning instruction to more advanced study and performance.
The donated instruments and musical equipment will strengthen those efforts by expanding the resources available to students and instructors. Access to an instrument is an essential first step for a young string player, and this gift will help the Symphony meet that need as its education programs grow.
For Belcher, the donation also connects her musical background and service in Baltimore with the region where she grew up. For The Jackson Symphony, it is a meaningful example of how national recognition can lead to local opportunities—and how one music program’s legacy can continue through another generation of students.
ABOUT THE JACKSON SYMPHONY
The Jackson Symphony is West Tennessee’s professional orchestra, bringing exceptional live music, education and community programming to audiences throughout the region. Its 66th Season celebrates America250 through music that reflects the artists, stories and sounds that have helped shape American culture.
