Programs

Serving 115 youth in Providence's West End and South Side neighborhoods, our program design reflects our goal of empowering children to imagine and achieve new possibilities, regardless of talent or ability, by addressing musical, personal, and community development.

Instrument Lessons (weekly)
Lessons are the heart of Community MusicWorks. The members of the Providence String Quartet teach group classes in violin, viola, and cello during after-school hours in neighborhood community centers, averaging 32 lessons per child every year. Community MusicWorks provides all participants with free instruments to keep throughout the school year. Through lessons, teachers form close learning relationships with their students and develop the long-term mentoring relationships that are the foundation of our approach to community development.

Musical Workshops (monthly)
During Musical Workshops, children interact with local and touring artists from diverse backgrounds. These interactions are designed to be informal performances and demonstrations. Workshops have ranged from a performance by the Grammy winning Turtle Island String Quartet to an Australian didgeridoo demonstration to an improvised jam session with the musicians of the Silk Road Project.

Some Musical Workshops are offered as public events. Click here to visit the calendar page.

Performance Parties & Youth Salons (5 per year)
Five times each year, students, teachers, and invited guests perform as individuals and in ensembles for a diverse community of parents, neighbors, students, and musicians. These events give the entire community a unique and accessible venue in which to assemble and learn about music. Because the sharing of food is a symbol of community building, an important element of each Performance Party is the multi-ethnic potluck feast that follows.

Friday evening Youth Salons were added in 2005 to create opportunities for Community MusicWorks students to share their musical accomplishments with a diverse group of local performers and artists. A Youth Salon in April 2006 was designed and produced by Phase II members to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. A Youth Salon in April 2007 raised funds for victims of genocide in Darfur.

These events are free and the public is encouraged to attend. Click here to visit the calendar page.

Concert Trips for Entire Families (monthly)
A concert trip is a family's means of learning about the musical language that their child is studying, and it is a child's means of gaining a broader conception of his or her future. Community MusicWorks has developed lasting relationships with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, Rhode Island Chamber Music Concerts, and other arts organizations that provide free tickets (and sometimes even transportation) for our students and their families.

Phase II (2 meetings per month)
Phase II is an opportunity for teens to further hone their musicals skills while developing a close-knit peer group. This unique program combines more advanced musical activities with weekend retreats and group discussions about current issues facing teenagers, deepening the students' dialogue about the world around them. Additionally, Community MusicWorks provides opportunities and scholarships for Phase II members to participate in local youth orchestras, private instruction, and music camps.

A self-selecting teen group participates in a weekly "Music Lab" through which they are introduced to basic theoretical and compositional concepts. Also importantly, Community MusicWorks is actively involved in preparing its juniors and seniors for applying to college, collaborating with College Visions.

Phase III

Phase III, added in 2007, is an opportunity for our most committed students to hone their musical skills by working together in a chamber group. Phase III students meet for weekly repertoire coachings, and play several concerts in the community each year. In October 2008, Phase III students performed alongside their teachers in the Providence String Quartet in The Kompa Variations, a new work by Daniel Bernard Roumain for double quartet commissioned by Community MusicWorks.

This year, Phase III also includes a work-study component, in which students learn valuable skills (including audio recording, photography, and grant preparation, among others) and are paid for work that they do on Community MusicWorks related work initiatives. Phase III allows Community MusicWorks to maintain the involvement of older committed students who might otherwise have had to cut back on their participation in the program in favor of an after-school job, and also gives Community MusicWorks the benefit of student input and involvement in ongoing documentation efforts.

The Phase III student ensemble is available to perform at local events. To learn more, please email phase3 [at] communitymusicworks [dot] org.