NJSO x NJPAC Announce “MANY” Music Education Partnership

Music Advancement for Newark-Area Youth (MANY) to increase instrumental students’ access to quality instruction. Partnership to broaden pathways to local performance-based education programs.

Through MANY, NJPAC and the NJSO will offer programs for Greater Newark-area students in 5th through 10th grade. Participants can study string, woodwind, brass and percussion instruments with the goal of developing musical and instrumental proficiency while building leadership skills.

MANY will also groom participating instrumentalists for acceptance into performance-based educational programs within the Greater Newark community, including the Arts High School Orchestra and Concert Band, Newark School of the Arts, NJPAC Brick City Jazz Orchestra, Wells Fargo Jazz for Teens and NJSO Youth Orchestras.

NJPAC and the NJSO will hold joint auditions that will place students into one of two programs—the NJPAC Symphonic Band Program, which will provide a musical foundation to introductory woodwind, brass and percussion students in grades five through eight, and the NJSO Youth Orchestras Training Ensemble, which will provide intensive musical instruction and leadership development to beginner and intermediate students of string, woodwind, brass and percussion instruments in grades five through 10. Participants in both programs will receive assistance in procuring an instrument.

“We are thrilled to join forces with NJPAC to increase Newark-area youth’s access to the quality arts opportunities they deserve. This work is at the heart of the values NJPAC and the Orchestra share,” says NJSO Vice President of Education & Community Engagement Marshell Jones Kumahor. “We see this partnership primarily as a catalyst for further collaborations with area schools and arts organizations committed to nurturing our young people. We are excited about the possibilities that MANY can spark.”

“Our partnership on MANY with the NJSO will indeed provide more children the opportunity to explore their musical passions,” says Alison Scott-Williams, Acting Head and Assistant Vice President of the Arts Education Department at NJPAC. “Musical and instrumental education programs like this are vital in the development of young talent. Students will use their instrument to collaborate with their peers and improve their skills as an ensemble. This new program provides music instruction for Newark-area youth who are without a band or other music training at their schools.”

MANY bridges two programs:

NJPAC Symphonic Band Program

• Grades 5–8
• Designed for students with little or no prior instrumental experience, the program will provide a musical foundation in woodwind, brass and percussion instruments.

NJSO Youth Orchestras Training Ensemble

• Grades 5–10
• The program provides intensive musical instruction and leadership development to beginner and intermediate students of string, woodwind, brass and percussion instruments.

Placement Auditions

Placement auditions will take place on Thursday, November 20, at the NJPAC Center for Arts Education and Saturday, November 22, at Rutgers Newark’s Bradley Hall. The NJPAC Symphonic Band Program and NJSO Youth Orchestras Training Ensemble are open to students in the Greater Newark area—including Newark, Irvington, Bayonne, Belleville, Bloomfield, East Orange, Elizabeth, Harrison, Hillside, Jersey City, Kearny, Maplewood, Orange and South Orange. For additional information and to apply, contact artseducation@njpac.org or 973.353.7058.

More information on NJPAC and the NJSO’s full suites of education programs is available at www.njpac.org/education and www.njsymphony.org/education, respectively.