I AM FOUR YEARS OLD

A 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 festival entered its fourth season in 2012 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 serves 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 both cultivates an awareness of its musicians’ place within their respective communities and explores the musicians’ “reply,” whether it be to violence, social injustice, lack of clean water, or illnesses.

With over a decade of classical music, we are pleased to uphold our I AM Four Years Old pledge. The funds will go into building the AMF Fellowship Program, allowing us to empower and nurture extraordinary individual musicians who have cultivated an immense dedication to their community. Through your donations, recipients will receive the support they need to create community music projects which they will launch to their respective communities.

Achieving Zero

UNICEF: Achieving Zero

As a beneficiary of 2012 festival season’s I Am Four Years Old campaign, the festival announced 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
Maine Children's Home

Maine Children's Home for Little Wanderers

In 2013, the Festival announced the sponsorship of the Maine Children’s Home for Little Wanderers. The Maine Children’s Home was chosen for its efforts in providing aid to families and children, strengthening families, providing for underprivileged children, and instilling hope. Its services include adoption, counseling, Teen Parent School Program, Early Care and Education for 57 children ages 0-5, Summer Camp Scholarship program that will send 120 children to camp, and a Christmas assistance program that served 1,664 children in 2012.

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.

"The Maine Children’s Home appreciates being selected by the Atlantic Music Festival as this year’s recipient. For 114 years, we have strived to improve the quality of life for children and families throughout Maine. We are honored to be chosen."

Steve Mayberry
Development Officer
Maine Children's Home for Little Wanderers
AMF Community Empowerment Program

AMF Community Empowerment Program

The Festival is pleased to announce the sponsorship of AMF's own Community Empowerment Program. This year’s recipient will be announced at the end of the festival season, chosen through audience votes collected on our website and at our concerts. Concertgoers will have the opportunity to engage in a world-class musical experience while giving a selected charity the resources to help communities near and far.

In addition, the Festival is pleased to debut its Community Empowerment Program, an initiative that seeks to offer free private lessons to individuals aged 17 and under from the surrounding community. These lessons will provide a unique opportunity to study with professional and up and coming musicians hailing from renowned institutions around the world.