Campaign for the next decade and beyond
In 2009, the Atlantic Music Festival, set on the breathtaking campus of Maine’s Colby College, launched its vision of creating an environment where promising young musicians from all over the world could come to perform music, learn from established masters, and harness their full artistic potential in a supportive and idyllic setting.
From its inception, the festival not only drew extraordinary talent, but attracted musicians with the vision to empower the world through their music. Under the banner of Leonard Bernstein’s quote, “this will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before,” the festival established a tradition of offering all its concerts completely free of charge as a gift to the community.
The I Am Four Years Old campaign has been established with the goal of extending the festival’s vision of serving the community not only through free concerts, but also through the donation of 100% of its concert proceeds.
The festival enters its fourth season with the launch of an exciting new campaign for the next decade and beyond: I Am Four Years Old.
The I Am Four Years Old campaign has been established with the goal of extending the festival’s vision of serving the community not only through free concerts, but also through the donation of 100% of its concert proceeds.
The campaign will serve as a pledge to sustain a public reaffirmation of its core values as the festival continues to grow in the coming years. Through the donation, the festival will also be able to cultivate an awareness of its musicians’ place within their respective communities as well as a new exploration of the musicians’ “reply,” whether it be to violence, social injustice, lack of clean water, or illnesses.
As a beneficiary of this year’s I Am Four Years Old campaign, the festival is pleased to announce the sponsorship of UNICEF’s Achieving Zero campaign. Achieving Zero seeks to reduce the worldwide child mortality rate to zero, saving children in over 150 countries who would otherwise die from preventable causes. In the last 20 years, UNICEF’s contributions have led to 12,000 fewer children perishing daily, from the nearly 33,000 under-five children in years past. This dramatic reduction is significant proof of the effectiveness of UNICEF’s efforts. At the same time, 21,000 is still too many young lives at stake every day, and 7.6 million children still fail to reach their fifth birthday every year – all from preventable causes.
Through this new initiative, concertgoers will have the opportunity to engage in a world-class music experience while helping UNICEF bring the preventable daily child mortality rate closer to zero.
About UNICEF
Working in over 150 countries, UNICEF provides children with health care, clean water, nutrition, education, protection, emergency relief, and more. The U.S. Fund for UNICEF supports UNICEF’s work through fundraising, advocacy, and education in the United States. Despite extraordinary progress, 21,000 children still die each day from preventable causes. Our mission is to do whatever it takes to make that number zero by giving children the essentials for a safe and healthy childhood.
"Thank you to the Atlantic Music Festival for believing in zero. With your contribution to the Festival, you join us in the commitment to child survival and in the renewal of the promise to give every child the best possible start in life."
– Matthew Bane
Major Gift Officer
UNICEF New England Region
