Project Harmony Welcomes New and Returning Students for the 2024-2025 School Year
Project Harmony, an outreach collaboration between Arts+ and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra (CSO), has begun again for the 2024-2025 school year. A program designed to jumpstart children’s musical education and nurture lifelong skills, Project Harmony serves students in grades 2-5 in four underserved neighborhoods across the Charlotte region.
Kinsey Fournier, Associate Director of Music Programs at Arts+, and Michaela Sciacca, Project Harmony Manager at CSO, return this year to lead Project Harmony to new heights. Kinsey oversees the program delivery at Project Harmony, including coordinating teaching schedules, delivering instruments and teaching materials across the four locations, and leading the music selection process. Michaela describes her role as managing many of the administrative duties that help the program run smoothly throughout the year, which involves monitoring registration data and preparing the sites at the beginning of the season; maintaining continuous communication with families, teachers, and staff members; and overseeing many of the logistical and background needs throughout the year.
Last school year had record numbers of around 115 regularly attending students. This year, Project Harmony has welcomed even more. With a 1:1 ratio of returning students to new learners, Project Harmony invites returning students to be leaders in the classroom. “We have found that peer modeling helps students grasp concepts more quickly, strengthening the classroom community,” says Kinsey.
Each week, students learn in a variety of ways, beginning their lessons with listening activities and warm-ups before splitting into strings and winds groups to learn instrument-specific skills. It’s in these groups that peer teaching is highly encouraged.
The first half of the school year culminates in a Project Harmony “informance,” an informal performance for students to demonstrate basic music and instrumental skills, showcase what they’ve learned, and prepare them for a larger concert at the end of the school year. Project Harmony ends their annual program with a performance featuring students from all four locations on a stage before a large audience.
Looking to the future, Kinsey would like to build more opportunities for connection for current and former students. She mentions building pipelines to introduce Project Harmony students to other programs and classes at Arts+ as well as an alumni network to stay in touch with students post-Project Harmony. Though several Project Harmony students attend classes and summer camps with Arts+, Kinsey believes that there are so many opportunities Arts+ can offer the students of Project Harmony!
Additionally, Kinsey has plans to continue supporting teachers as they develop student leaders. She says, “Project Harmony staff hope to implement a mentorship training program for returning students. This training will aim to educate returning students on how to communicate with and assist younger students while developing their own skills.”
As we begin the next school year of Project Harmony, we want to extend a big thank you to our generous sponsors that make this program happen! We are grateful for the partnership of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and the support of the D’Addario Foundation and the Brungard Family Foundation.