If you read our newsletter or follow @nempacboston on social media, then you may have noticed we autograph our communications with three words. Music. For. All. #MusicForAll is more than a hashtag. It’s an ethos that defines who we are and what we stand for as a community of artists.
What does #MusicForAll mean to you? For our board members, faculty, and staff, accessibility gets at the heart of #MusicForAll.
Accessibility means something different to every family we serve. That’s why we place such a heavy emphasis on the following:
- Building spaces that are accessible to people of all abilities
- Designing music education opportunities around the schedules of working parents and guardians
- Representing stories from all walks of life through our performance programming
- Offering tuition assistance to defray the cost of participation in our music school
This week’s blog post focuses on tuition assistance. Here at NEMPAC, we’re proud to collaborate with community partners to offer three types of scholarships:
Annie Flaherty Music Scholarship
The Annie Flaherty Music Scholarship is an annual scholarship awarded to an aspiring artist who attends Eliot K-8 BPS Innovation School, one of our long-standing school partners. The recipient is also enrolled in either band, ensemble, or private music or voice instruction at our music school.
Tricia Flaherty created this scholarship fund after her daughter Annie’s passing to provide opportunities to Eliot School students who love, appreciate, and benefit from music just as much as Annie did. Annie, an Eliot School student, was an incredible, sweet, and passionate student who studied piano at NEMPAC. She shined in music classes and programming, and her talent for creating and sharing music inspired her classmates and teachers alike to not only be better musicians, but also to be better people.
NEMPAC Fund Need-Based Scholarships
Our need-based scholarships defray the cost of tuition for private and group music instruction, as well as music education courses. Any youth musician or performer who hails from the greater-Boston area and is under the age of 18 is eligible to apply for this needs-based tuition assistance.
Since 2017, we’ve awarded approximately $20,000 in youth scholarships because we believe every child deserves the opportunity to explore the arts and experience the transformative power of music and performance.
Geraldine Marshall Scholarship
As a now mid-sized nonprofit organization, we attribute so much of our growth through the years to the work of selfless community members who champion our mission. State Representative Aaron Michlewitz is one such community member. His celebration of all that we are and his belief in all that we can be has meant more to us than words can ever say.
One of the ways Representative Michlewitz advocates on behalf of #MusicForAll is through the Geraldine Marshall Scholarship Fund. In 2014, he created the fund in loving memory of his mother, Geraldine Marshall.
Geraldine Marshall was an arts advocate who was proud to call the North End home for nearly half of a century. She stood strong in the conviction that music and performance could propel a child forward on a path of deeper self-awareness, greater compassion toward self and others, as well as personal and artistic discovery.
The Geraldine Marshall Scholarship honors Geraldine Marshall’s mission to provide every child in the North End with access to high-quality arts programming. This scholarship funds a child’s participation in either private or group music instruction for an entire year.
Each year, Representative Michlewitz awards four youth hailing from Boston’s Little Italy the Geraldine Marshall Scholarship. In partnership with Representative Michlewitz, we’re thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2019 Geraldine Marshall Scholarship:
Neveah Camacho | Voice Lessons
Sabina Cohen | Dance Classes
Cameron Esposito | Guitar Lessons
Nicholas Horan | Piano Lessons
These four individuals exemplify the joy and the passion for music and performing arts that Geraldine Marshall did. Moreover, these four scholarship recipients are talented beyond measure, and we’re confident that many artistic successes will be in their bright futures.
Music parent Kristina Berger reflected on what this scholarship means to her daughter, Sabina. “As a professional dancer and dance teaching artist, I cannot express the humbling gratitude, relief, and pure joy it brings to see my daughter thriving in an art form which I truly believe can save the world! Gratitude to NEMPAC for providing this incredible honor and opportunity through the Geraldine Marshall scholarship award; Relief that with this award, Sabina will be able to continue her study of a universal language which builds incredible thinking skills, elegance, confidence, and power which she can then share with and inspire others through; Pure Joy to see Sabina’s shining smile and significant growth after each and every marvelous class with Miss Amanda at NEMPAC! Thank you deeply, for this incredible honor without which we would not have been able to give Sabina this opportunity she so honestly deserves and loves.”
Music parent Lauren Horan reflected on how music has impacted her children’s lives from an early age. “I feel lucky to have an organization like NEMPAC at our doorstep. My two boys have been involved in NEMPAC activities for years, starting with Family Music Makers when they were babies. Now, they both take piano lessons and participate in the theater summer camp, as well as the musical theater troupe. The Geraldine Marshall Scholarship has helped our family to make these activities possible. Last year, my son, Preston, received the scholarship, and we were thrilled that this year, his brother, Nicholas, was awarded the scholarship. We are very thankful for the generosity of Aaron Michlewitz for continuing to support arts education.”
Many thanks to Representative Michlewitz for giving Geraldine Marshall Scholarship recipients past and present a chance to hone their craft and pursue artistic study. Our community is indebted to his generosity.
Terry Esposito, music parent, explained, “The Geraldine Marshall scholarship is such a wonderful way to remember and honor the loss of a loved one. Music is an amazing gift. It can put a smile on your face and fill your life with joy and happiness. That is exactly what this scholarship does. It brings joy and happiness to children who love and appreciate music.”
As you can see, #MusicForAll is more than a hashtag. It’s a vision for the world we work to bring to life each and every day alongside members of our community.
What does #MusicForAll mean to you and your family?
