About Us
The mission of Friends of Music, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of parents and community members, is to promote the advancement of music education and performance for the students in Lyme–Old Lyme Public Schools (Regional District #18) through scholarship awards and support to the music departments at all levels.
Officers 2021–22
Lorianne Panzara Griswold, President
Lorianne@pathwaysforpeople.org
Michaelle Pearson Lampos,
Vice-President
Priya Mattam, Treasurer
Karen Mather,
Outreach Coordinator
What We Do
The work of Friends of Music takes many forms, such as: distributing high school band and chorus uniforms; providing water to high school and middle school student musicians at the Memorial Day Parade; granting special requests from the music faculty of all of the schools for non-budgeted items; and providing scholarships to graduating seniors who have been involved in the Region 18 music program.
Over the past several years, Friends of Music has financed guest musicians for the high school masterworks concert,
provided adjudicators for the middle school music program, and funded and served meals to several hundred visiting students during the Shoreline Festival hosted at LOLHS. We have also supported individual students by subsidizing private music lessons for students in need.
In addition, Friends of Music provides scholarships to graduating seniors who have demonstrated excellence in the music program and have challenged themselves academically; scholarships total roughly $3,000 each year.