The San Francisco Symphony has announced a $10 million challenge grant from the San Francisco-based Evelyn & Walter Haas Jr. Fund in support of the symphony's multimedia effort to build new audiences for classical music. The grant will be awarded after the symphony raises $10 million over the next three years.

The symphony's innovative program, Keeping Score: MTT on Music, was introduced on national television in June 2004 as part of a multimedia initiative aimed at providing audiences with a connection to classical music and the powerful emotions it can convey. Created by the symphony and its musical director, Michael Tilson Thomas, Keeping Score will include a significant educational component that provides students with a broader understanding of and access to classical music.

"Keeping Score provides such an exciting opportunity to share the joy of classical music with those who may not have access to the symphony hall," said Haas Fund president Ira Hirschfield. "We're eager to see the full realization of this project as the symphony continues to broaden the reach of its brilliant conductor and its talented orchestra, into homes and schools across the country."