Joy of Music Program

Yesterday evening after sundown JOMP hosted 40 Afghani women who asked for space to celebrate international women’s day. Our concert hall was transformed by women in beautiful, bright clothing breaking Ramadan fast together, chatting, laughing, dancing and remembering. A series of empty chairs were set up to represent Afghani women lost. A visual presentation was given about the women living in poverty in Afghanistan coping with violence and misogyny. I was tired. My day has begun at 8:30am and it had been hard to motivate myself to stay late into the evening. It was worth it. I learned a lot about resilience watching this community of women who have experienced so much and now, in what should be a safe and welcoming country, facing more instability still communing, laughing, caring, and most importantly not giving up. My favorite part of the evening? When the party was over and the women cleaned up everything someone’s cell phone was accidentally thrown into a garbage bag that was then locked into our dumpster. When I went out with the key I found a woman boosted up by the others, her beautiful clothing sparkling with light trying to retrieve the trash bag in order to find the phone. So much laughter! Women. Community. Joy. Resilience. Beauty. It matters.

Arts and culture are resilient. We’re used to doing a lot with a little. Given the current political climate expressive freedom, community, and amplifying the voices of all is more important than ever. JOMP will continue to be a place of joy, music, community, safety, and equity. The attacks on funding won’t stop us. They just mean we need to stand a little stronger, work a little harder, and never lose faith in the importance of what we are doing.

?????? JOMP staff tuned in together to cheer on Sofia. Our hearts were in our mouths as we watched her take the stage. But Sofia was no different than she is at JOMP. Excited to play. Immersed in the sound and beauty of the music. Natural. Joyful. All music and no ego. What a gift to be a part of her “music village”. ??

"I hope to do my best" — 11-year-old JOMP cellist Sofia Hernandez-Williams of Holden going to national competition in Detroit.

We are so proud of Sofia. She and her brother Alex have been music students of JOMP since their earliest years. Not only that, their mother Caroline began at JOMP at age 5. Today Caroline is not only JOMP’s Associate Director but also a sought after cellist and performer in the New England area. JOMP is unique in its community and musicianship. This is just one example of its impact.

Our newsletter is jam-packed this month! See what we've been up to by reading The Joyful Noise here. Happy Thanksgiving! https://lnkd.in/eBFp22SR

One of our favorite programs. Joy of Music Program and Head Start are partnering so that all 26 classes around Worcester come to JOMP for music. Head Start is a federally funded education program for pre-k and k. It makes a difference. #musicmatters #headstart #joyofmusicprogram #JOMP

Yesterday WRAP and JOMP led our second session of immersive music, art and English classes for refugee and immigrant families. This time everyone joined in the music-making. We sang, played, jumped, and laughed. Then the adults went with Heather and volunteers for English and the children split their time between art with my friend Jena and games with me. Last week a 10-year-old girl was dropped off by her family to participate. Her mom explained she was pregnant and exhausted so I promised to take good care of her. The girl, who began shy and silent, left laughing with her artwork in hand. This week the girl and I chatted. We talked about how we’re both new to Worcester. She laughed at me because she’s only been here a year while for me it’s two. She loved finding out that we both spent time in Malaysia where she briefly lived after leaving Gaza. Her family came late to pick her up but that was okay because we were in the middle of a hilarious game of Sequence while her brother read Calvin and Hobbes on the couch. When her mom came we all chatted and I sent the kids home with copies of Calvin and Hobbes with promises that they’d be back next week. She hugged me tight before going. Below is the extra context of this family from Heather’s time with the mom when she dropped off the children. I met a woman from Gaza whose family sought asylum here 7 months ago, following the murder of her little boy. She showed me his photo; such a handsome little guy. I held her hand and promised we would take good care of her little 9-year-old girl, who mom says “just needs to be able to be a child” right now. Mom is pregnant again. She told me she doesn’t care if this new baby is a boy or girl, just that it will be safe. It should be an easy ask, shouldn’t it? The little birds the children made today took on a very different meaning for me as a result. #musiceducation #refugee #music #joyofmusicprogram

Celebrating talent and generosity. Recently, JOMP was thrilled to host Julie Sévilla Fraysse as a master clinician for our cello and string students. Julie generously shared her time and talent with our students and audience. It was a special evening. And the generosity continues. Today we received word that a supporter of Julie's decided to donate the cost of her clinic to JOMP. What a gift! JOMP is dedicated to making music accessible to all. That means, we raise nearly $200,000 each year to support more than 120 students who otherwise could not afford lessons. Three of those students were part of Julie's masterclass. Julie, thank you! We will put any donations received in your name aside specifically for our cello students as well as to host master clinicians such as yourself (hopefully we'll be seeing you again soon). <3 https://lnkd.in/eF2-uAb4

What happens when we create a program that invites refugees into a welcoming environment, melding music, English language learning, and visual arts for the whole family? That program began last Saturday at JOMP thanks to a partnership with the Worcester Refugee Assistance Program ( @worcesterrefugees ). These photos show some of the results ?????? #CommunityThroughArt #RefugeeSupport #WelcomingCommunities #MusicForAll #ArtsForRefugees #LanguageThroughMusic #FamilyArtProgram #InclusiveArts #CulturalExchange #WorcesterRefugeeProgram #JOMP #MusicAndLanguage #ArtForChange #BuildingCommunity #ArtsForGood #JoyOfMusic #Worcester