NJ Spotlight published the following article on November 21, 2013. To read the full article, click here.
Union City Music Project Gives At-Risk Kids Something to Sing — and Play — About
Maya Chung | November 21, 2013Based on Venezuela’s El Sistema, local after-school program looks to nurture art appreciation in children and families
Serenading the audience with songs, playing the drums, and performing a small selection of orchestral music, the children of the Union City Music Project recently showed the crowd at the annual benefit concert all they had been learning.
The project, in it’s third year as a nonprofit organization, aims at gathering some of Union City’s at-risk children, from ages four to ten, in an after-school program devoted to promoting arts appreciation. The program currently serves six schools in Union City.
“A program like this helps students become well-rounded, multidimensional people. It’s sad that right now schools are more focused on testing than on enriching,” said David Bernard, musical director of the Park Avenue Symphony Orchestra in New York City. Bernard came to speak at the benefit concert in support of the project.
The music project’s founder, Melina Garcia, was inspired to start the initiative by a program she remembers from her childhood in Venezuela — El Sistema. There are three programs modeled after El Sistema in New Jersey: Garcia’s, one in Paterson; and another in Newark. They are part of a national allianceof El Sistema organizations.