Tag: Music

Episode 77: Sonido Musica in Harmony

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Eileen McCaffery, Executive Director of Community Music School of Springfield, and Julie Jaron, Director of Visual and Performing Arts for the Springfield Public Schools, discuss their work over five years on the Sonido Musica program, a partnership that aims to reduce Springfield’s high school drop-out rate through student engagement, leadership, and performance opportunities. What started with three public schools and 60 students has grown to 18 schools and nearly 1,000 student musicians! Now nearby Holyoke wants to replicate this model. Their goal was not to have the Community Music School replace music education in the public schools, but rather to help principals and administrators see the power of the arts working every day in their school.

Eileen McCaffery (l) and Julie Jaron (r)Eileen McCaffery has served as Executive Director of Community Music School of Springfield since 2012, having been a CMSS Board member for 6 years prior and serving as Board President for 2 years. Ms. McCaffery received her BA from University of New Hampshire, graduating magna cum laude.
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Episode 51: Wide Perspective at the Narrows

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Patrick Norton is Executive Director of the Narrows Center for the Arts, a regional destination for the visual and performing arts. He discusses the Narrows’ contribution to the Fall River community and their arts therapy program for developmentally delayed adults.

Patrick NortonPatrick Norton has been involved with the Narrows Center for the Arts for 21 years serving as Executive Director the past 11 years. From 1997-2012, he worked for Congressman Jim McGovern. He’s been happily married to the wonderful Maggie for 23 years and is the proud parent to two amazing boys, Benjamin and Owen.
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Episode 39: A Performance Center with a View

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Tony Beadle, Executive Director of Rockport Music, shares the trajectory of his organization from a 5-week chamber music festival to a year-round arts presenter now with its own signature performing arts center.

Tony BeadleTony Beadle joined Rockport Music as Executive Director in February 2010. Under his leadership, he managed the transition of the organization from 5-week Rockport Chamber Music Festival to developing and managing a year-round arts presenter of over 125 concerts and presentations each year. Additionally, he successfully transitioned the organization to its new home, the seaside Shalin Liu Performance Center and brought it to an international reputation. The season has expanded beyond classical music to include jazz, folk, pop, and world music, as well as HD broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera, England’s National Theatre, and the Bolshoi Ballet.
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Episode 34: Why is a Social Service Agency Running a Classical Music Program?

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Berkshire Children & Families (BCF), a social service agency serving Western Massachusetts, believes that partnering with families is the best way to promote healthy, happy children to make strong families and better communities. Carolyn Mower Burns, President and CEO, shared how through Kids 4 Harmony, an intensive classical music program for social change, BCF uses musical excellence as a vehicle for developing whole children and whole families.

Since this conversation was recorded, Massachusetts has lost a tremendous advocate for creative youth development. Carolyn passed in the Fall of 2016. She is missed.

Carolyn Mower BurnsCarolyn Mower Burns, LICSW, was recognized as a leader and champion for community-centered programs to strengthen children and families.  Prior to her death in the Fall of 2016, Carolyn presided over Berkshire Children and Families (BCF) for 27 years forging a legacy of leadership and innovation.  BCF is one of the most comprehensive family service agencies in Western MA, providing cutting-edge programs that create lasting opportunity for children and their families in Berkshire County and the Pioneer Valley.
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Episode 24: Music Therapy & Neuroplasticity

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Dr. Peggy Codding, Professor of Music in Music Therapy at the Berklee College of Music, says our brains allow us to compensate for the needs our brains have. She describes the ability of the brain to retrain neurons through music therapy, helping people with profound functional disabilities to express themselves.

Peggy CoddingPeggy Codding, Ph.D, MT-BC is Professor of Music in Music Therapy at the Berklee College of Music in Boston where she has served for 17 years. She is also the former Chair of Music Therapy at Ohio University. While in Ohio, she co-founded a successful integrative arts therapy program in the treatment of severely mentally ill male inmates needing residential treatment in state funded, long-term medium-to-maximum security settings. The program, a first of its’ kind, was implemented in collaboration with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and the Chillicothe Correctional Institution. The program was acknowledged with the Governor’s Premier New Program Award in its’ second year.
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