MUSIC AS MEDICINE 2021 PROGRAMMING SUPPORT
by School for The Great Turning
Our vision is clear and strong amidst unprecedented crisis and uncertainty. With your generous support, we have been able to continue to create access to music, music education, and Joanna Macy’s “Work That Reconnects” — and we will continue to do so.
Greetings comrades of Music As Medicine!
We hope this letter finds you well. We are wishing that you and yours are rooted in grace, connection, and purpose amidst these times of pandemic and uprising, rest and resilience.
As we come to the Winter Solstice, we at Music as Medicine are reflecting on our offerings this year and seeding intentions for our work to come — and as we vision, we wanted to invite you all into the opportunity to join and support us.
We are enthused to invite you all in particular to support two endeavors of Music As Medicine that focus on creating access to Joanna Macy’s “Work That Reconnects,” music, and music education for those most marginalized.
The Music as Medicine Scholarship Fund
As an organization, and as individuals, we continue to listen in this moment of turmoil and social change. While the future is uncertain — and we hold worry in our hearts for the state of Black lives, the well-being of immigrant and undocumented folks, the rights of our transgender siblings, and so many marginalized peoples — we at Music As Medicine feel clear in our calling to provide nourishing and inspirational resources for those committed to justice and liberation.
To this end, we have continued to democratize access to healing and education online, with donor donations continuing to fund the participation of those who face barriers. This year, our Scholarship Fund has subsidized almost one hundred and fifty students to be able to attend our programming.
We are asking you to support us in providing programmatic access to up to four hundred students this year. Your donation will support community organizers, artists, educators, and more, study with Joanna Macy, adrienne maree brown, Amikaeyla Gaston, Vahisha Hasan of Trauma Response and Crisis Care 4 Movements, and Leah Song of Rising Appalachia as we reassess and rehabilitate into 2021.
Our fundraising sights for the 2021 Music as Medicine Scholarship Fund is $14,000 — can you help us reach our goal?
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The Music as Medicine Teen Musicianship Program
In this time, when our education system is extraordinarily strained, especially for underserved and marginalized families, Music As Medicine Project is implementing a new education program for low income teens in the San Francisco Bay Area.
We have the incredible opportunity to work with Mark Growden, an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, singer, music educator, conductor, and visual artist. He will be providing free, online musicianship lessons for young musicians who are often and systemically left behind. Growden is the founder and Artistic Director of The Calling All Choir, The Chromatic Community Music Center, SF SingFest, and The SF Jaw Harp Choir in San Francisco, CA. He was the founding Artistic Director of the Marigny Opera House in New Orleans and is the co-founder of the New Orleans Dance Festival. Growden has over thirty years of teaching experience with diverse populations, including several years as a high school and middle school music teacher.
With your support, we can begin to offer one-on-one musicianship lessons to marginalized and underserved teens across the country. We appreciate your consideration in donating to enable young folx access to the life giving creativity of music!
Our current fundraising goal for this program is for 6 months of 2021, or $15,600 --- $650 a week for 5-10 students.
Our vision is clear and strong amidst unprecedented crisis and uncertainty. With your generous support, we have been able to continue to create access to music, music education, and Joanna Macy’s “Work That Reconnects” — we continue to distribute tools for cultivating resilient cultures in our communities.
We are grateful for the ways you have enabled us in our work and vision. Thank you dearly!
In song and solidarity,
The Music As Medicine Team
Lydia Violet Farshid-Harutoonian & Shlomo Pesach