Memorial fund gives kids free symphony tickets

To honour its long-time board member and conductor John Clement, the P.E.I. Symphony Orchestra is looking to set up a memorial fund that would cover the costs for kids to attend the symphonyeach year.

Besides trying to establish The John Clement Memorial Send a Kid to the Orchestra Fund, the orchestra is also dedicating its 50th anniversary seasonto Clement, who died last week.

• P.E.I. Symphony Orchestra founding member John Clement remembered for love of music

"We have all these kids, hundreds of people, who were touched by John. And, this is an opportunity for them to give a little something back to John as well,"symphony president Bruce Craig told CBC's Island Morning.

Clement is known for helping the orchestra grow professionally when he arrived on the Island in 1971 four years after the orchestra was established, Craig explained.

"The symphony as we know it today, I think, is largely a result of the changes and advances that John introduced."

Craig hopes the fund will help inspire a generation of future audiences by giving kids the opportunity to attend the symphony for free.

Anyone interested in donatingcan do so at the symphony's website.

The symphony's final performance of this season is April 23 at Zion Presbyterian Church in Charlottetown.

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