Harmony

The Music Department partners with Harmony to encourage our undergraduate and graduate students to offer music lessons to low-income students in the NYC School System in a variety of settings.

HARMONY is a nonprofit organization that aims to develop music ability and music appreciation in young residents of the City's public housing developments by matching them in small instructional groups with student teachers from colleges and universities throughout the city. In addition to music lessons, students receive instruments, music books, supplies, and tickets to cultural events, all at little or no cost. The dual objective of the program is simultaneously to develop a new generation of music students and music instructors. In doing so, HARMONY seeks to fulfill the larger social mission of expanding access, among underserved communities, to music education and the creativity, self-confidence, discipline, and teamwork it engenders.

Harmony is unique in that it utilizes the untapped resources of the City's many college-level musicians to develop the musical talents of young students who would not ordinarily be exposed to music education. Targeting an under-served, primarily black and Hispanic population of 3rd-8th graders who live in public housing developments, the program helps young participants develop basic instrumental skills and an appreciation for music while at the same time providing training for future teachers.

To date, Harmony's experience has been extraordinarily rewarding. Harmony carefully selects beginner students and families for participation in the program through a rigorous application process. As a result, our young people have supportive parents and are enthusiastic and eager to learn.

We have been equally successful in working with college students who have a passion for teaching and appreciate the opportunity to educate young people who would not otherwise have an opportunity to study music.

University Partners

Universities work with Harmony to develop a program model that meets the needs of both partners. Generally, universities assist in identifying interested and capable student instructors; offering course or work-study credit to student instructors; and ensuring that student instructors fulfill their teaching obligations.

Student Instructors

Eligible student instructors must be accomplished on the instruments they aim to teach; interested in working with small groups of beginner musicians typically in grades 3-8; prepared to develop lesson plans and monitor student progress; and willing to commit to a regular schedule of either weekly or bi-weekly lessons.

NYU Music students interested in volunteering in Harmony should contact anne@harmonyprogram.org.

The Community Arts Technical Assistance Project

One of the ethnomusicology graduate courses, Applied and Public Ethnomusicology, explores careers in public service ethnomusicology as well as the many public and applied aspects of academic ethnomusicology (consulting, public policy, advocacy, festivals, concert presenting, grant-making, scholarly journalism, forensic musicology, and so on) that students may be involved in throughout their academic careers. This course also explores the philosophy, ethics, and politics of such work. Student projects in the course make use of the emerging technologies of the EthnoLab to document and provide promotional and interpretive materials, services, and training to community artists (and the presenting organizations with which they work), involving graduate students in community projects of artistic and social significance.

Growing out of this class is an initiative called The Community Arts Technical Assistance (CATA) Project, funded in part by a Curricular Development grant from NYU, supplemented by a grant from the Graduate School of Arts and Science. The initiative builds on a growing interest in applied and public sector research in the fieldwork disciplines and strengthens the Departments commitment to both public sector and urban ethnomusicology. The Project also addresses real community needs for access to emerging multimedia technology and resources, complementing the efforts of the community-based presenting and folklore organizations and building institutional capacity. It is also intended to enhance the service reputation of the University and to build strong ties to diverse communities in the New York City area.

Community Partners in the CATA Project have included the Center for Traditional Music and Dance (CTMD), many of whose participating ensembles and artists were have been served by the project. Over the first few years of the project, it is anticipated that many such ideas for specific applications of the Project will emerge from the groups with whom we work. I also hope for a demonstration effect by which this project will serve as a model for community-oriented activity on the part of other ethnomusicology programs.

Participating artists have included the following:

Korean Traditional Performing Arts Association
Irish uilleann piper, Jerry OSullivan
Djoniba Dance and Drum Center
The Rajkumari (Indo-Caribbean) Cultural Center
The Mountain Jews Nashi Traditsii (Our Traditions) initiative of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance
Dja Rara, a Haitian roots music ensemble
The Afro-Jamaican troupe Ancient Vibrations
The Afro Dominican group Palo Monte
MusArt (Arts in the schools project in Brooklyn)
Kotchenga Dance Troupe

Students participating in the CATA program have designed web sites, produced promotional videos, written concert program notes, catalogued archives, produced CDs, researched cultural presentations, and printed brochures.