Program:
Jamaica Plain Community Music
- Budget:
-
$25,000
- Category:
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Arts, Culture & Humanities, General/Other
- Population Served:
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Adults
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Children and Youth (0 - 19 years)
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Hispanics
Program Description:
A Far Cry offers free or discount concerts at St. John's Episcopal Church, and free pop-up concerts at various restaurants, T stations, parks and sidewalk spots around Jamaica Plain. We participate in Jamaica Plain community events, such as Emerald Necklace Conservancy Sunday in the Park series, JP Open Studios, and business district events. We also offer free open rehearsals, holiday concerts, open houses, and Chamber Music Happy Hours at our store-front rehearsal space on South Street. The goal of this program is to bring quality classical music to a neighborhood of Boston that is lacking in this genre. We are pleased to have integrated so successfully into this community.
Program Long-Term Success:
Our goal is to develop a consistent and meaningful presence in the community of Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood that has been underserved in terms of classical music programming. We have established ourselves in this community by acquiring a store-front space on South Street where we invite the public in to participate in open-rehearsals and open houses. We also travel out into the community by participating in various neighborhood events. We strive to touch this community with exciting and beautiful music, and encourage people to continue pursuing interest in classical music. Our efforts have also encouraged other classical musicians to launch projects and/or to perform classical concerts in this neighborhood.
Program Short-Term Success:
With a regular, consistent presence in Jamaica Plain, A Far Cry aims to increase the percentage of young and Hispanic audience members at classical music concerts and increase the number of people who seek out classical music on their own. Currently, 6% of our St. John's audience is Hispanic. Over the next year, we aim to increase this number to 10%.
Program Success Monitored by:
A Far Cry regularly takes surveys at our St. John's concerts to ask people's ages and ethnic backgrounds and to ask how they heard of A Far Cry. We also ask them if this is their first time attending a classical music performance. This past year, 6% of our St. John's concerts were attended by people of Hispanic background, and the average age of our listeners was 46 (lower than the national average age of classical music listeners).
Program Success Examples:
We have developed a large fan base in Jamaica Plain. Many people have told us that they are so happy and proud to have a classical music orchestra reside in their community. One street runs a competition every year to be the street with the most residents who attend our concerts. We have had dozens of people bring their children to our concerts and request music lessons from our musicians.
Program:
Gardner Museum and Jordan Hall Concerts Series
- Budget:
-
$75,000
- Category:
-
Arts, Culture & Humanities, General/Other
- Population Served:
-
Adults
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Children and Youth (0 - 19 years)
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College Aged (18-26 years)
Program Description:
As Chamber Orchestra in Residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and as a partner with New England Conservatory, we bring innovative programming to our Boston audiences. As a democratic collective, A Far Cry's musicians each participate in the artistic process of selecting music, constructing programs and leading and interpreting pieces. Each concert we perform is unique and each piece has an original sound and interpretation. Our audiences look forward to our concerts and leave the hall enlivened. In a time in which classical music is suffering, A Far Cry is changing the "face" of this music, infusing it with energy, and enticing new and younger audiences to experience it in fresh ways. We are reaching people who had thought of classical music as belonging to the elite, or something difficult to understand. We are attempting to break these barriers by offering an alternative approach to the way classical music is interpreted, experienced, and received.
Program Long-Term Success:
We aim to attract young people, and people who are not traditional classical music listeners, to our concerts. We aim to increase the attendance of new and young listeners at classical music concerts in general.
Program Short-Term Success:
Through surveys taken at our concerts, we know that the average age of our concert attendees is lower than the national average. We are attempting to market to these populations through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Group-On and other multi-media methods. Once they attend our concerts, we hope to retain them as listeners. Our surveys ask if they are "returning customers." We receive many comments from listeners that they have never been so energized upon leaving the concert hall.
Program Success Monitored by:
It has been (and will be) difficult to monitor the impact we are having on the Boston area as a whole. We need more effective ways to track our success. We want to know if our audience is seeking out classical music on their own after attending our concerts.
Program Success Examples:
A number of donors have approached us to offer donations with tears in their eyes and stories of how we have moved them. We reach out to our audience members in meaningful ways and form connective bonds. And, in turn, the audience comes to us requesting ways to donate or get involved, expressing their appreciation for the work we do. We also have seen an increase in the number of young people (ages 22-40) at our concerts. We were recently featured in the Boston Phoenix and have attracted some young audience members because of that article.
Program:
Belcaster Education Program
- Budget:
-
$5,000
- Category:
-
Arts, Culture & Humanities, General/Other
- Population Served:
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Children Only (5 - 14 years)
Program Description:
<div>The Belcaster Education Program was established by Robert and Carolyn Belcaster to bring quality classical music programming to under-funded inner-city Boston public elementary schools. This grant has given us the opportunity to perform workshops at the Hernandez and Tobin Schools in Roxbury, where we reached dozens of students. As a follow-up to the program, we invite these students and their families to attend our St. John's concerts for free.</div>
Program Long-Term Success:
As public schools receive greater budget cuts and decrease the amount of music education from their curricula, we aim to give children greater exposure to classical music. Upon completion of our programs, children have a greater awareness of classical music, become curious listeners, and are encouraged to seek out musical instruction and education.
Program Short-Term Success:
We reach dozens of students per year, some of whom have never had any exposure to classical music.
Program Success Monitored by:
Our program offers young students an introduction to classical music orchestras and invites students to participate in guided listening exercises. It is difficult to know the lasting impact that these experiences have on our children. We need more effective ways to track the number of children who choose to study music or play an instrument due to our presence in the schools.
Program Success Examples:
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Program:
NEC Residency
- Budget:
-
$6,000
- Category:
-
Arts, Culture & Humanities, General/Other
- Population Served:
-
College Aged (18-26 years)
Program Description:
<div>Our partnership with New England Conservatory affords students the opportunity to participate in one of three programs.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>1) Entrepreneurial Expo. It has been the tradition of conservatory students to strive for an orchestra job. A Harvard study showed that orchestral musicians rank towards the bottom of job satisfaction. A Far Cry challenges the traditional model of waiting to land an orchestra job, by encouraging young musicians to create their own careers and re-define the role of the musician in the 21st century.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>2) Fellowship Program. We offer a fellowship to 2 musicians each year to participate in the administrative and artistic life of A Far Cry. This fellowship offers students the opportunity to learn about the workings of a non-profit organization. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>3) Competition. We offer a competition each year for students from NEC's Preparatory School to perform with A Far Cry in Jordan Hall. </div>
Program Long-Term Success:
For students completing our workshop, 50% will seek alternative musical careers and find creative ways to use their musical talents to impact society.
Program Short-Term Success:
After our Spring 2012 Expo, a few students approached us asking for longer-term consultation, and some of these students undertook their own music projects that would impact society in a positive way.
Program Success Monitored by:
We plan to participate in this Entrepreneurial Expo this coming spring in conjunction with NEC's Entrepreneurial Department. We also hope to implement a tracking system, whereby we will follow students over the next several years to monitor their activities.
Program Success Examples:
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