Alan Fox
2019 INDUCTEE
Music Educator
ALAN FOX (1951-2008)
COMING SOON
Members of the Historical Archive Committee of the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame are researching and documenting the career of this important Ocean State music educator and musician. When work is completed, we will be posting an in-depth biography on this page. In the meantime, please enjoy this introduction to his work.
Pianist, singer, composer and music educator Alan Fox came to Providence from Boston in the 1980s. He was founder and for ten years director of The Music School Inc., a non-profit community organization which merged with the Rhode Island Philharmonic in 2000 to become the orchestra’s main educational outlet based in East Providence. It was the first and largest merger of its kind in the U.S. Arriving in Rhode Island, Alan saw an opportunity for community based instruction and, with some like-minded people from the community, incorporated The Music School in 1986. Starting at School One, they had 400 students by the end of the first year. They moved to Nathan Bishop Middle School and started satellite branches in Barrington and East Greenwich. Alan continued as director until 1997 as plans for the merger were beginning to take shape. The R.I. Philharmonic Music School has continued its amazing progress with 1500 students involved in private lessons and/or ensembles of various sizes and styles – classical, jazz, rock, folk and world music. As Alan’s vision included music instruction for those students in financial need, there is the Alan Fox Fund for the Music School, a scholarship handled by the Rhode Island Foundation. Alan passed away in 2008.
THE RHODE ISLAND PHILHARMONIC MUSIC SCHOOL WEBSITE
including the school’s history and mission
https://www.ri-philharmonic.org/MusicSchool/Overview/tabid/209/Default.aspx