SUNSET PARK SCHOOL OF MUSIC INC

Programs

1. Free Theory/Performance/Musicianship Classes. Serving 300 students/year. Free Music Theory, Performance and Musicianship/Performance Classes. The School offers free music theory and musicianship classes to students enrolled in private lessons. The classes are held at the school. The Music Theory, Performance and Musicianship/Performance Classes are free to those students enrolled in private lessons. The classes, with 5-15 students in each class, are held weekly throughout the 32-week school year. The classes are 1/2 hour to 1-hour in length. We have three levels: beginner, intermediate/advanced, and adult. The students range in age from 2nd grade to adult.

   $26,000 spent
   58% of program spending

2. Free Community concert Series. Serving 3,000 people each year. The school invites a diverse group of professional musicians and the ensembles in residence to perform once-a-month free concerts. We select the artists based previous experience hearing and seeing the artists, professional relationships and collaborations, and recommendations from the faculty, students/parents, and community organizations. Some of the award-winning artists that have performed include Thomas Piercy (www.thomaspiercy.com); Judith Olson; Noritaka Ito; the Milonga Trio; Vilian Ivantchev; Intrepid Quintet; Lost Dog Ensemble; Pablo Aslan (Latin Grammy Nominee); Fernando Otero (Latin Grammy Winner); Yohmei Blasdel (world-renowned shakuhachi player); Yihan Chen (award-winning Chinese composer/pianist). These concerts are held at the music school and the Community Center of the MarienHeim Center in Sunset Park. Students, families, and the general public are invited to the concerts. We notify local schools, local churches, and local community organizations in the hope that they will let their communities know about and attend the concerts. The concerts range in style from classical, jazz and different ethnic…

   $10,000 spent
   22% of program spending

3. Free Summer Music Program. Serving 40 people directly. 300 indirectly. A free summer program for children in grades 3 to 7. Any children in the neighborhood were welcome to attend. No previous enrollment as a student in the school was required. We offered an Open-Door policy so students may come and go depending on their schedule and their parents' summer schedule. Student attendance varied from 10-40 students per day. The classes were held at the music school and in the community center and gym of Sunset Park's Marien-Heim Center. The classes were held for four hours (9am-1pm), five days a week (MondayFriday), for five weeks in the summer. Instruction was provided on music instruments as well as music-related activities. Students were introduced to instrumental music through demonstration of woodwinds, strings, piano, and guitar. The demonstrations were done by professional performers/teachers and often included hands-on aspect so the students were able to hold and sometimes play the instruments. Teachers included the Executive Director, current faculty of the school and teaching artists/performers from NYC. Each student was given a recorder to learn and play. Many of these…

   $4,000 spent
   9% of program spending

4. Music Technology Classes. Served 30 people directly. Served 500 people indirectly. Students were offered classes in computer music technology software and its application and real-life usage. Students were of high-school-age and came from the surrounding Sunset Park area. The main software used is Finale. Other composing/arranging software used is Sibelius. These are the two main music composing software in use today. Until March 15, 2020, the lessons/classes were held for one hour, once a week for 32 weeks at the school. After March 20, 2020, we transitioned to online classes/lessons. This may have been the easiest class to transition to online. Students/teachers were able to share their information easily through emails and google drive. It was easy for the teachers and students to demonstrate their compositions/arrangements through shared audio files. Students had access to the professional Finale/Sibelius software while using the school's computer, and had access to a free version at home on their own computers. The lessons were taught primarily by Executive Director Thomas Piercy. Mr. Piercy is a published composer and has helped edit works published by Boosey & Hawkes and…

   $5,200 spent
   12% of program spending

5. Instrument making workshops. Served 50 directly. Served 500 people indirectly. Instrument Making workshop. Professional instrument makers and players of the Japanese shakuhachi, hichiriki, and the Chinese/Japanese flute (ryuteki/fue/guanzi) instruments worked with the students to make their own instruments. The workshops were held twice each semester and once during the summer session. The workshops were held on Saturdays and were scheduled for four hours to cover a short performance and demonstration by the instrument maker, instruction on how to make the instruments, the actual making of the instruments using tools and bamboo provided by the school, and the teaching how to play the instruments once made. The instrument makers/players included the Executive Director, who has studied instrument making in Japan, and other artists that have studied instrument making in China, Korea, and Japan. The instruments included the Japanese shakuhachi (flute), Japanese hichiriki (double reed instrument), Chinese double reed instrument (guanzi) and Chinese/Japanese flute. These workshops were held throughout the school year at the Sunset Park School of Music. We were able to complete the…

   $0 spent
   0% of program spending

The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $45,200.