Bay Port teacher wins $10,000 from Barry Manilow's music project and will be honored at his Resch concert

SUAMICO - A Bay Port High School band teacher has hit the Barry Manilow bonanza, and that doesn't even include getting to hear "Copacabana (At the Copa)" live.

Ashley Siegrist is the Green Bay winner of The Manilow Music Project Teacher Award, an honor that comes with a $10,000 grant from the Manilow Fund and tickets to his Resch Center concert on July 29.

Ten local high schools in each city on his Last, Last Tour were invited to submit the names of their favorite music teachers and then voted to select the winner.

As the winner for the Green Bay tour stop, Siegrist will receive $5,000 to use as she directs, and Bay Port will receive $5,000 for new instruments for the school’s band program. She’ll also be honored during Manilow’s concert at the Resch, which is being billed as his "last Green Bay concert."

It’s not the first time Manilow’s generosity has found its way to Bay Port High School. When he last played the Resch Center in 2016, he donated a new Yamaha piano to the school and also collected new and gently used instruments from the community for Bay Port in exchange for a pair of tickets to his show.

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Manilow launched The Manilow Music Project in response to a friend’s request for a saxophone for his high school daughter. Manilow was surprised to discover that most public schools had suffered considerable budget cuts in their school music programs. The all-volunteer project has gifted more than $10 million in instruments and scholarships to high school and college music students throughout the United States.

Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 orkmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on X@KendraMeinert.