Since December 2019, Making Music Matters has been selected to benefit from the Star Market GIVE BACK WHERE IT COUNTS Reusable Bag Program 5 times at 3 different Star Market locations. The organization has used donations from Star Market to continue providing children in Boston with a vibrant music education.
Tell us about Making Music Matters.
Making Music Matters is committed to ensuring equity of access to quality arts education, specifically instrumental music instruction, for students in the Boston Public Schools. Making Music Matters welcomes all students. Enrollment is deliberately inclusive and reflects the diverse student populations in various educational settings in each school. Through student performances, Making Music Matters engages whole school communities, creates multi-school collaborations, promotes communication and cooperation among school administrators, inspires teaching and learning, involves parents, guardians, and homes, and links schools across the district to their neighborhoods and the larger community.
Most importantly, Making Music Matters brings the gift of music to our students. For many of our children, the in-school instrumental program is the only opportunity they will have to learn to play a musical instrument. Learning to play an instrument can alter a student’s entire school and educational experience. Making Music Matters is pledged to provide a vibrant arts experience in our schools and to encourage a lifelong love of music in our students.
Learning to play an instrument can alter a student’s entire school and educational experience.
It all began when schools began cutting music lessons due to budget constraints. A music teacher and a principal at the Beethoven School in West Roxbury decided to fill the void. Initially, Making Music Matters started as an initiative with Young Audiences of Massachusetts to replace cut music lessons, and we’re still going strong 24 years later.
What services do you provide to the community?
Making Music Matters is a collaborative school-based and grant-funded partnership in four Boston Public Schools in West Roxbury and Roslindale: Kilmer, Mozart, Ohrenberger, and Philbrick. Students receive instrumental group lessons in clarinet, flute, trumpet, and violin during the regular school day. While many other music programs happen after or before school, we do our lessons during the day so that families don’t have to worry about altering their schedules, finding transportation, and finding the pathway for their kids to receive quality education.
Our third graders play all four core instruments: clarinet, flute, trumpet, and violin. In fourth grade, they choose one and stick with it through fifth grade. This way, students leave the program with a solid foundation in one instrument.
We introduced a pilot program for sixth and seventh grade students three years ago. Students start the year learning one of the four core instruments. Later in the year, they have an opportunity to switch to another instrument like saxophone, trombone, viola, cello, and baritone. Some students like to stay with one of the core instruments, and others will pick up a new instrument.
The pilot program has been operating for three years, and we are always open to trying new things. We recently took in a piccolo, which can be natural for a flute student. If a student is excelling in the flute and is interested in trying the piccolo, we can now expose them to that instrument.
We also provide families with an opportunity for active and authentic involvement. Parent engagement is important to us. Family members can serve as site coordinators at our schools, participate in fundraising, volunteer, and attend student performances. Last year, we started streaming performances on Zoom to open an opportunity for more family members to be a part of the performances. This has been especially nice for those who live far away.
Year after year, we receive feedback from families at all of our schools that Making Music Matters is the reason they chose their child’s school. Our staff attends school open houses to share more information about the program, and it never fails to impress. The schools we work with are already great, but arts education is an extra draw and what many parents are looking for.
We also provide families with an opportunity for active and authentic involvement.
We work to get to know and collaborate with our community, continuously strengthening it. Our longest-standing community performance is the Roslindale Tree Lighting event. This year, Boston City Councilor Enrique Pepen joined our students on the stage, accompanying them on the bells. City Councilor Pepen will be joining us again as our Master of Ceremonies at our annual Spring Concert. We treasure our relationship with him and hope to build more community relationships like it. Our community supports our students and sees real value in our program.
How has Making Music Matters used the donations from the Star Market GIVE BACK WHERE IT COUNTS Reusable Bag Program to further its mission?
We’re an extremely lean organization, and I’m excited to tell you how we use the funds. We decided to dedicate the funds from Star Market to service our instruments. We have built an arsenal of instruments that serve over 400 students. Some of the instruments are brand-new, either purchased using grants or given as donations. Most are older instruments that we have accumulated over our 24 years.
Regardless of the age of an instrument, it sometimes requires repair. We are able to repair some instruments ourselves, but some require more attention than we are able to give. Having funds to send instruments to repair is critical, as is having instruments on hand to give students so they don’t have to wait for them to come back from repair.
Once we get the fixed instruments back, they go into our backup supply. It’s a cycle. The cost of repairing an instrument can vary. On average, an easy fix costs between $35 and $40 per instrument. We’ve been so fortunate to be the benefactor of Star Market, and the money really makes an impact. If you do the math, we’re looking at fixing 24 instruments with the money we have received. That donation ends up supporting several students in our program and helps us keep the program alive. We can’t fulfill our mission without working instruments, so donations from Star Market go a long way.
We can’t fulfill our mission without working instruments, so donations from Star Market go a long way.
Tell us a story about a program, service, or initiative that the Star Market GIVE BACK WHERE IT COUNTS Reusable Bag Program has supported.
I remember one student who would have a zen experience playing the clarinet. He’d close his eyes and sway, appearing to go to another place. He was someone who needed an instrument in his hand. His mother reported that he would take out his clarinet and start playing whenever he felt overwhelmed.
We don’t want any of our students to not have their instruments. We want them to take it home and practice. Sometimes, students will forget their instruments. There is a learning experience in that alone! Unfortunately, we have some students in homeless situations, and in unique cases like that, we work with the students and their classroom teachers. However, we prefer that kids take their instruments home when it is possible. Kids are learning the responsibility for an instrument, but also the responsibility of executive functioning skills.
Have you noticed any changes in community awareness or support since becoming involved in the Star Market GIVE BACK WHERE IT COUNTS Reusable Bag Program?
Making Music Matters has been a beneficiary of the Star Market GIVE BACK WHERE IT COUNTS Reusable Bag Program since 2019 and has definitely seen the funds increase! We attribute it to getting our name out in the community. We know we’re making ourselves more familiar with the community, and Star Market likely plays a role in that.
What advice would you give other nonprofits participating in the Star Market GIVE BACK WHERE IT COUNTS Reusable Bag Program?
Other nonprofits should become aware of and seize opportunities like this. Not only can it help fund their programs, but it can help publicize their organization in different ways to folks who may not have been aware of their organization before.
I firmly believe that building collaborations and partnerships results in stronger communities. It makes our world a better place. Anything could be an open door, and the Star Market GIVE BACK WHERE IT COUNTS Reusable Bag Program is a perfect example of that. Don’t turn away from opportunities like this.
Interview with Britt Young, Co-Director