See Beautiful Grant Finalist: Atlanta Music Project

The feature below is brought to you by Atlanta Music Project, a See Beautiful Grant finalist. For more information about our giving initiatives, please click  here.

To learn more about the featured organization, please visit their website here.

Music and arts education is a fundamental aspect of our society. According to the American Psychological Association (2019), “students who participated in music, who had higher achievement in music, and who were highly engaged in music had higher exam scores across all subjects.” Music education has been proven to help sharpen attentiveness, cultivate dynamic thinking skills, and foster a superior working memory. However, these programs are not accessible to students who do not have the required resources - that’s where the Atlanta Music Project (AMP) steps in.

AMP is based at the AMP Center for Performance & Education in southwest Atlanta in the 30310 zip code where the median household income is $35,848 (U.S. Census Bureau), 25.4% of the residents are below the poverty level, and all schools have a 100% free/reduced lunch rate. Resources and access are limited for students in our under-resourced communities, thus causing a woeful imbalance in the equitability of music education programs in Atlanta. Where families north of downtown easily access high-quality music programs – usually for $3,500+ – south of downtown, there are no competitive youth orchestras and choirs, and the arts education budgets in schools continue to face dramatic budget cuts, resulting in few strong and stable music education programs.

Founded in 2010, AMP intentionally provides world-class, tuition-free music education and performance opportunities right in under-resourced communities where high-quality band, orchestra, choir, and private lesson programs are not typically found. AMP’s first programming was part of the after-school program at the Gilbert House, an Atlanta recreation center. AMP provided music instruction (music theory, choir, orchestra) 5 days a week for two hours to 30 elementary school students. Today, AMP serves 600 K-12 students through seven beginner, intermediate, and advanced band, orchestra, choir, and private lesson programs. AMP students attend rehearsals 1-5 days per week for 1-2 hours per day and collectively perform 50+ concerts throughout Metro Atlanta.