COMMUNITY OUTREACH

High school students find their creative voice with the Creation Project

THE CREATION PROJECT

Each year, Present Music works with 30 junior and senior students from Reagan High School, High School of the Arts and Rufus King High School through The Creation Project. Each student works with professional musicians and composers to write their own musical compositions.

At the end of the project, Present Music musicians perform and record the new music composed by the students.

By bringing The Creation Project to schools, we are able to remove both transportation and financial barriers to meaningful music instruction, inspiring students from all backgrounds to create music and experience the full range of benefits of this program.

HOW IT helps Students

Increases their confidence: Students gain confidence in their musical skills with guidance from professional musicians/mentors, sharing their musical compositions openly with their peers and instructors and receiving insightful feedback.

Improves academic performance: The study of music is enhances short-term memory, attention, perception, and cognitive flexibility. The Creation Project is an intensive program that requires all four of these cognitive functions and develops them, thereby enhancing academic performance.

Helps them think innovatively and critically: The mentorship of the creative composition process encourages students to reflect on the works they are creating in detail and to consider numerous variables to “paint” their musical pictures – harmonic progressions, rhythmic patterns, tempos, choices of key and meter, dynamic contrast, choosing instrumentation/combination of instruments to achieve desired colors, melodic shape and phrasing, timbres, styles, articulation, and permutations of all of the above.

Be disciplined: Creating a new composition requires discipline in all fundamental musical skills and a willingness to sustain work on one composition project until successful completion and performance, persisting through challenges.

Improve emotional intelligence and self-esteem: Students learn to appreciate new music created by their peers and gain self-esteem when they share their own new compositions. The artistic process - sharing challenges, ideas, and unique voices and expressing emotions through music - helps connect people and increase compassion for one another.

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