In the Community

The Music School understands the impact that music can have on a child's life.  That's why, through the aid of grants and donations, we have been able to offer free music instruction to children in the community for the past 6 years.  Through programs like the Creative Communities program, Capitol City Bands and partnerships with the Providence After School Alliance, youth have been given the opportunity to explore music, receive leadership training, gain a greater sense of self-worth and have experiences that will last them a lifetime.

Pawtucket Urban Music Project, or P.U.M.P. (formerly Creative Communities)

Serving roughly 100 youth each year, the Pawtucket Urban Music Project is a partnership between The Music School of The Rhode Island Philharmonic and The Housing Authority of the City of Pawtucket.  Music classes are offered to youth ages 5 to 18 five days a week at both the Galego Court and Prospect Street Housing Authority sites, where they are able to choose from lessons in guitar, violin and viola, keyboard, chorus, private voice, songwriting and Latin percussion.  Instruction is free for residents of these two communities as well as those living in Section 8 housing.  P.U.M.P. also houses the Sound Leadership program, which provides opportunities for teens to receive leadership training from Rhode Island Teen Institute and become paid mentors in the program.  Students from P.U.M.P. have been accepted into the Rhode Island Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and the Jacqueline M. Walsh School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

We would like to congratulate mentor Jessy Lopes, who just received his G.E.D., and Angel Colome for receiving his high school diploma.  Good luck to you both!

Drug Free Communities

Building upon the relationship established with the Pawtucket Housing Authority, the Drug Free Communities program is a partnership between the Music School, PHA and the Pawtucket Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force.  Through a grant from SAMHSA, Drug Free Communities works to discourage youth from becoming involved in substance abuse and violence by offering them artistic opportunities as positive alternatives.  This year, Drug Free Communities has partnered with Music One and Everett Dance Theatre to bring the students an integrated curriculum of songwriting and hip hop dance.

Capitol City Bands

In an effort to ensure that Providence children have access to music education at a time when music is not being offered in the schools, the Music School has begun the Capitol City Band program.  Through this free program, 4th through 6th grade students are taught how to play donated concert band instruments in an ensemble setting, under the instruction of experienced band leaders.  This program is designed to help students work towards Rhode Island state arts proficiency levels that are required for graduation from high school.  In the 2005-06 school year, Capitol City Bands were held at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School, and the Paul Cuffee Charter Elementary School.  We hope to expand this program in the coming year to accomodate more students with the addition of 3 to 4 new bands.

Providence After School Alliance

The Providence After School Alliance, or PASA, an initiative of Mayor David N. Cicilline of Providence, and the Education Partnership, is a city-wide project designed to create more accessible and diverse after-school opportunities for middle school students.  To date, the Music School has provided programming through PASA as two separate sites.  Both Latin percussion and song writing classes were offered during the 2005-06 school year at the West End Community School at Gilbert Stuart Middle School, which enabled youth to particpate in a group learning environment and compose their own melodies and lyrics.  Through an Innovator's Grant from PASA, the Music School, in partnership with the InTown YMCA and New Urban Arts, provided a multidisciplinary arts program in the winter of 2006 for the West Side/Upper South Side Afterzone which included Brazilian percussion, capoeira and poetry and spoken word.  We weill be completing the secons half of our partnership program in Fall 2006 with another multidisciplinary arts program that will include singing, dance and mural painting..