Grand Vision’s Meet the Music (MTM) team of teaching artists worked tirelessly all summer getting ready for the 2023-24 school year! Together with Director of Music Education, Sukari Reid-Glenn, and Music Education Coordinator Lupe Montiel, they are thrilled to inspire new and returning students and to collaborate with schools and teachers. As always, the main objectives of the school year are to fully engage the students and get them excited to connect their school subjects of STEAM, History and English Language Arts to music.
MTM’s seven teaching artists are currently working with 16 schools in the LA Unified School District (LAUSD), with more schools coming on board soon. MTM makes every effort to bring its programming to new schools, in keeping with Grand Vision’s mission of making music education accessible to all. Manager Sukari Reid-Glenn is excited to report that “We’re on track to gain at least three more schools for the 2023-24 school year!”
Teaching Artist Nicholas Miller offers a smile and a helping hand
MTM is now offering schools five courses in order to reach all grade levels, teach musical and social-emotional skills, and build confidence in all learners. MTM’s flagship Roots of Music Program (RoMP) is being taught in 11 schools, and Recorders in Schools is at 12 schools. The other three courses also being taken by this year’s students are the Percussion Program, Strings in Schools, and Keys of Inspiration.
As detailed in an earlier post, RoMP teaches music fundamentals through a multicultural lens and features in-school lessons as well as concerts at the Grand Annex Music Hall. Something you may not know, however, is that for schools outside of the immediate LA Harbor area, MTM’s RoMP on the Road brings the program and the artists’ performances to their schools!
Recorders in Schools students practicing a new song
You can advocate for MTM programs to be offered in your local school by reaching out to principals, administrators, leadership committees, and parent organizations. You can also offer financial support by donating on our website at www.grandvision.org/support/donate to promote the continuation and expansion of our music education efforts. And last, but certainly not least, you can offer moral support by attending the annual MTM winter and spring concerts, where our students will be demonstrating everything they learned and worked so hard on (contact Grand Vision for more information).
We are immensely proud of our Meet the Music team and we can’t wait to watch their hard work come to life in schools and onstage.
Meet the Music is made possible due to the generous support of our funders, including The California Arts Council, Crail-Johnson Foundation, LA County Department of Arts & Culture, City of LA Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), Dwight Stuart Youth Fund, Office of LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn, US Bank Foundation, Pasadena Show House for the Arts and LAUSD.
