Harmony Project
The Harmony Project is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles, California, that provides free music instruction and instruments to youth in underserved areas of LA.[1] Programming consists of year-round music lessons, orchestra and ensemble participation, and a peer mentorship program influenced by El Sistema,[2] Venezuela's highly successful music education program.[3] Harmony Project currently serves over 1400 students in the Los Angeles area,[4] and expanded in 2011 with its first affiliate program, Harmony Project of Ventura County.[2]
History
Harmony Project was founded by Dr. Margaret Martin in April 2001. It has many different teaching sites all over the Los Angeles area. The first site launched in Hollywood with 36 students and $9000 in funding from the Rotary Club of Hollywood.[5] In 2006, a second site opened in South LA at EXPO center, and the following year Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (YOLA) was formed in partnership with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and to be conducted by famed conductor, Gustavo Dudamel. Harmony Project partnered with LAUSD's Beyond the Bell program in 2009 and in the fall of that year launched the Hip Hop Orchestra, a string ensemble that performs contemporary popular music under the direction of composer and conductor Diane Louie. Harmony Project currently operates at 17 sites across LA and serves over 1,400 students.[2]
Awards and Recognition
- 2009 – Harmony Project receives the Coming Up Taller Award, which "recognize[s] exemplary arts and humanities programs which foster young people's intellectual and creative development",[6] from the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH), presented by Michelle Obama at the White House.[7]
- 2010 – Harmony Project founder Dr. Margaret Martin is named Woman of Distinction by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.[8]
- 2011 – President Barack Obama awards Dr. Martin the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest civilian honor in the US, for her work with Harmony Project.[9]
Notes and references
- ↑ About Us www.harmony-project.org. Retrieved November 28, 2011
- 1 2 3 Whole Notes 2011 Harmony Project Newsletter. Retrieved November 28, 2011
- ↑ Webber, J. L. El Sistema: When Music Cuts Crime and Saves Lives. The Telegraph. Retrieved November 28, 2011
- ↑ In LA Kids Choose Music MSNBC. Retrieved November 28, 2011
- ↑ Meet Our Founder www.harmony-project.org. retrieved on November 29, 2011
- ↑ Coming Up Taller Awards
- ↑ Ng, D. L.A.'s Harmony Project Honored at the White House. LA Times Blog. Retrieved November 28, 2011
- ↑ Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Women of Distinction Retrieved November 28, 2011
- ↑ Presidential Citizens Medal. The White House. Retrieved November 28, 2011
External links
- Harmony Project website
- Turning Point, a PBS special on BYU TV
- Diane Louie on IMDB
- Harmony Project of Ventura County website