Neighborhood Initiatives
Neighborhood Initiatives
Musicopia’s most extensive programs are long-term neighborhood-based commitments.
Exploring Ourselves & Our Cultures: Since 2005, Musicopia has collaborated with The Clay Studio and Philadelphia Young Playwrights to offer a comprehensive arts program to students in a consortium of North Philadelphia schools. This long-term project has enabled students and families in the Temple University area to take part in a multi-disciplinary exploration of self in relation to neighborhood and world cultures through music, theater, and ceramic art. Yearly culminating arts festivals feature student work in all three arts disciplines.
Bridge to Music Program: We partner with carefully targeted schools to help them start or revitalize their instrumental and general music programs. At these schools, once the principal has made a commitment to hire a regular music faculty, we offer multifaceted support to fledgling programs by helping the school obtain and repair instruments, offering group instrumental music coaching, providing music enrichment activities, consulting with teachers about repertoire and other needs, and creating performing opportunities for newly minted young musicians.
North Philadelphia’s Meade School was selected in 2005 as the first Bridge to Music pilot site. The school is led by dynamic and visionary principal Frank Murphy, who firmly believes that music has the power to bring genuine change to his school and its community. Accordingly, he has hired a music faculty that now brings in-school as well as out-of-school-time music education and instruction to the many interested students. Duckrey School, led by Principal David Baugh, was added to the program in 2006. We anticipate adding roughly one school each year to our roster of Bridge schools. Through Bridge to Music, these schools, whose principals have created staff positions for regular District music teachers, now receive support from Musicopia for their expanding music programs, both during the year and during the summer.
Click here to read a story about the impact of Bridge to Music on two local students.
City of Chester “Immersion in Great Music and World Cultures”: When Musicopia began giving individual assemblies for the schools in the Chester-Upland School District in 2000, Chester schools had the lowest academic performance record and the second highest crime rate in the State. In 2003, Chester was the first test site for our newly-developed music residency programs that we now use throughout the region. These residency programs not only engage students in musical activities, but reach out to adults in support of better music education for the city’s children. In May 2003, four Musicopia ensembles gave a culminating evening concert that brought together students from nine schools in performance with the professional musicians. The attendance was dismal, but the superintendent, school principals and music teachers who attended pledged to rally the forces for another try in 2004. In each of the subsequent years, over 400 students, families, and community leaders have attended the final joint-school community concerts given by approximately 200 students with five different Musicopia ensembles. Many community members thought that these events drew the largest turnout of Chester residents in recent history.
Musicopia is proud to partner with many different community and social service organizations to be a part of the City’s revitalization. Our commitment to Chester entails not only the huge task of assisting in the rebuilding of music education, but helping to rebuild the self-esteem of students and the quality of life of the entire community through music. Since 2006, Musicopia has been working closely with the Chester-Upland School District Administration to re-establish the Chester Marching Band, which was once a high point of Chester’s civic life. We hope that in a few short years, residents of Chester will once again be able to point proudly to the city’s sons and daughters as they march in the band!
Collaboration with Elwyn: Musicopia’s collaboration with Elwyn, Inc. has created programs that address the learning issues of preschool through high school students with special needs, fostering musical skills that help these students develop emotionally, cognitively, socially and physically. Residencies both for school-age and preschool children continue to expand each year, with Musicopia ensemble artists participating in workshops led by Elwyn staff developers in order to further refine curriculum and pedagogic technique with respect to a wide range of special needs. We are very proud that our Board and musicians have supported and embraced this initiative that strives to meet the needs of the most underserved members of our society.
Click here to read a story on how music affects students with varying abilities.