Music Connects NYC
Music Connects NYC bring leading performers of diverse musical traditions from around the world to middle school students in Brooklyn.
Since the 1990s, the United States and New York City, in particular, has experienced the largest wave of immigration in history. As immigrants settle into new lives here, their children face the risk of losing their connection to their unique cultural heritage.
The pressure on their children to assimilate their musical tastes is intense and can become a part of a wider cultural gulf often experienced between older and younger members of immigrant families. Such conflicts are often the source of youth isolation, loss of connection with community and loss of cultural identity.
CTMD designed and implemented Sharing Traditions to reach out effectively to the youth residing in New York City’s growing immigrant and ethnic communities, to educate young people about the extraordinary artistic traditions within their culture, to provide a supportive environment for the study and celebration of these traditions and to empower young people through self-realization.
CTMD formally initiated the Sharing Traditions program in the late 1990s, and has implemented intensive, ongoing classes and workshops for youth in the Mountain Jewish, Bukharan Jewish, Indo-Caribbean, Mexican, Peruvian, Colombian, Chinese and Ukrainian Communities.
Sharing Traditions is supported by Con Edison, the Gilder Foundation, the Scherman Foundation, the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council.
Himalayan Language and Culture Program
Himalayan Language and Culture Program Sharing Tibetan and Himalayan Traditions in NYC In recent years, there has been rapid growth in the numbers of
Messages of Hope: Songs and Stories of Veterans
An intensive teaching and performance-based mentoring program, which immerses U.S. Military Veterans in West African music and dance.
Reclaiming Heritage: Traditional Arts Workshops for Older Adults
CTMD’s Su-CASA program Reclaiming Heritage: Traditional Arts Workshops for Older Adults
Urban Stomp: From Swing to Mambo
An interactive arts-education series that shares important artistic, cultural and historic connections between Swing and Mambo!
The Mariachi Academy of New York
The Mariachi Academy of New York is devoted to preserving the rich heritage of Mariachi to youth in New York and performances for community-based and general audiences. The organization works to develop the participants’ skills in musical training, discipline, creativity and self-esteem while strengthening language, team working skills and a strong sense of identity.
FolkCOLOMBIA Escuela de Danza y Musica
The FolkCOLOMBIA Escuela de Danza y Musica preserves and explores traditional Colombian dance and music in New York City through pedagogic, technical and artistic methods to encourage the practice, appreciation and presentation of the traditional art forms.
Pachamama Peruvian Arts
Pachamama Peruvian Arts seeks to strengthen the practice of traditional Peruvian music and dance, promote cultural interchange and mutual understanding among Peruvians, Peruvian Americans and the community at large and to empower New York’s Peruvian community with pride through youth education, workshops and collaborative community presentations throughout the New York metropolitan area.
Mencius Society for the Arts
Since 2006, the Mencius Society for the Arts has taught Chinese music to youth in Manhattan’s Chinatown.