Boston Music Project

BMP’s vision is to give every child an engaging and fun musical experience, performance opportunities to develop confidence and self-efficacy, high levels of musical proficiency, and a passion for learning that transcends all subjects. We aim to see youth develop the following:

Musical Proficiency: All youth take part in weekly music programming and community performances to master their instrument.

Social-Emotional Skills: Our curriculum is designed to help students develop the self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success.

Civic Engagement: Our work within the community gives students context for how they can make a positive impact. Students begin to understand the importance of community engagement and the positive role that they can play in their communities.

Creative Self-Expression: In addition to instrumental music instruction, students take part in a series of creative projects to help them develop and amplify their own unique voice.

Since its founding, BMP has provided Boston youth a combination of high-quality music education and opportunities for social-emotional development. Currently, BMP offers before, during, and after school programming to 230 youth at four BPS sites.

Within our programs, students are organized by age and musical ability which allows us to challenge and support youth through all of their developmental stages. Musicians participate in different performances, lessons, orchestras, ensembles, and instrument sectionals to master their viola, violin, cello, double bass, or piano. Students engage in collaborative music-making activities and study advanced topics such as improvisation and composition. As a student progresses through our programs, they gain a foundation in digital music composition, recording and production, peer mentorship and civic leadership.

Our curriculum is specifically tailored to help youth advance their musical abilities as well as develop executive function skills and social-emotional skills necessary to succeed at school and in life. Our program’s intensity, breadth, and duration is greater than local competitors. Currently, our average student teacher ratio is one to six and students receive, on average, three-and-a-half hours of small group/private lessons per week. Moreover, while our final outputs are performance-based, our teaching practices are focused on youth’s social-emotional development. At BMP, youth find a consistent and safe place to be seen and heard and become more confident individuals with powerful voices.

BMP has served the Boston community for roughly 10 years. Born from the desire to bring daily, high-quality music education and SEL support to our city's most vulnerable youth, BMP initially began in partnership with Boston Public School (BPS) in 2011. In 2015, BMP acquired its official 501c3 nonprofit status, separating its budget and operations from BPS. As part of a strategy to close gaps in achievement and educational opportunity, BMP continues to work directly with BPS as a Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and Wellness portfolio partner.

BMP has an exceptional team of faculty and staff with a diverse background of teaching and performance experiences. Each team member is committed to ensuring not just the musical development of students, but also their social/emotional growth and well-being. BMP hires teaching artists who are capable and eager to grow within their own practice. All teachers attend a pre-program orientation and professional development workshops throughout the year. This attentiveness to development and growth ensures that they have the tools to grow together as a team and learn from each other.

Our success and ambition has not gone unnoticed. In 2019, we received an official resolution from the City of Boston for our efforts to support BPS. BMP has also won national acclaim, receiving the “Best Community for Music Education” award from the National Association for Music Merchants in both 2019 and 2020.

Our success and ambition has not gone unnoticed. In 2019, we received an official resolution from the City of Boston for our efforts to support BPS. BMP has also won national acclaim, receiving the “Best Community for Music Education” award from the National Association for Music Merchants in both 2019 and 2020.