(WEEHAWKEN, NJ) -- United Children’s Music Project (UCMP) will hold its 10th Year Anniversary Event on Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at 7:00pm at Weehawken’s Chart House (1700 Harbor Boulevard). At this special celebration, UCMP will honor supporters Weehawken Mayor Richard F. Turner, Enrique Márquez (Asst. Dean, Manhattan School of Music), Amelia Gold (Assoc. Head of School/Dir. of Arts at Elisabeth Morrow School), and Bernice Fleischer, (Asst. Arts).
Since its inception in 2012 as a grassroots music immersion program for 54 Union City preschoolers, UCMP has served hundreds of Hudson County 3-to-18-year-olds through its transformative after-school music classes, free instruments, and performance opportunities in the NY/NJ metropolitan area.
“We’re thrilled to applaud – in person – these vital supporters, and especially UCMP’s amazing students, parents, teachers and our communities, for helping UCMP continue serving Hudson County kids the last decade – especially during the Covid lockdown”, said UCMP’s Founder and Executive Director Melina Garcia.
For almost two years during the pandemic, UCMP’s after-school music classes took place online and hybrid for about 120 students starting in March 2020. UCMP finally returned to face-to-face instruction in February 2022 at UCMP’s program site in Weehawken.
Garcia explained how UCMP transforms not only the children and youth enrolled, but also their families and communities.
“UCMP students regularly get accepted into gifted and talented schools like Union City’s Sara M. Gilmore Academy, NYC’s Special Music School, and Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program,” she said. “Our young musicians also go on to be successful in other areas of their lives. UCMP’s high school graduates have gone on to universities like NYU, Rider, and Rutgers with full scholarships.”
“Right now, children and youth are dealing with the pandemic’s ripple effects of emotional distress and struggles in school,” continued Garcia. “Now more than ever, children need a place to feel safe, express themselves, connect with others, rebuild their self-confidence, and gain skills that will serve them a lifetime. They need a place like UCMP.”
UCMP's programming is based upon El Sistema ("The System"), created in 1975 by Venezuelan economist/musician José Antonio Abreu, whose initiative has rescued thousands of children and youth from poverty, bad schools, drug abuse, and crime in more than 30 countries.
Since 2007, El Sistema-inspired orchestral music programs like UCMP have been operating in over 140 US cities to serve America's underserved kids. They are seeing decreased school absenteeism, improved grades, reduced youth crime and teenage pregnancy, and increased rates of high school graduation and pursuit of higher education.
Making sure Hudson County kids from preschool to high school get low-cost, free instruments and high-quality music training just like wealthier counties has been one of UCMP’s focus since it launched its first cohort of students back in 2012.
“Children deserve and need high quality music education that is actually affordable,” said Garcia. “We are delighted to be able to bring such opportunities to the children and families in Weehawken, Union City, North Bergen, West New York, and Jersey City and beyond through our Weehawken-based program.”
Gala tickets are available for purchase online.
United Children’s Music Project (UCMP) is a non-profit organization that provides intensive, low-cost, orchestral music education, group and private lessons, and regular performance opportunities to urban children in Hudson County, NJ. UCMP envisions a world in which children and youth develop academic and life skills, through increased access to affordable, high-quality music and arts education, and opportunities that help them reach their full potential.
