Music Growing Mind

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About Us

Music for the Growing Mind – a charitable institution under Section 88 of the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department Ordinance - aims at promoting and managing an innovative music education initiative in China addressing a particularly fragile segment of the population: children in difficult social and economic conditions.

In a first phase, Music for the Growing Mind will contribute to the Chinese authorities’ relief effort to quake-affected areas in Sichuan.

 

A project of harmonic development of children

We will create Schools of Orchestra for children and youngsters in the areas hit the most by the calamity of May 2008. Children will receive free musical education and, by learning and making music together, they will learn to interact with one another to a level that inspires a devotion to excellence and the discipline of working together.

While undoubtedly perspectives for future careers are opened, the project goes beyond providing a standard music education and contributes to the process of intellectual and social development of the children. By taking part in such a collective project, children involved in forming the Orchestras will begin to enjoy a sense of community and belonging. Their self-esteem and recognition from their families and beyond will grow, as the Orchestras become important local institutions, present in the community’s everyday life.

In Sichuan, the quake did not only destroy buildings, but also disrupted social links within the communities. A project like ours, in which social links are created – between children in the orchestras and between the orchestras and the city – is therefore particularly meaningful. Music for the Growing Mind participates therefore to a ‘second relief effort phase’ - where innovative development tools are conceived and implemented – which kicks in as the first relief phase – rebuilding the buildings – unfolds.

 

A project inspired by ‘El Sistema’ in Venezuela, enriched with Chinese educational elements and cultural heritage

The project is inspired by the Venezuelan ‘El Sistema’. Conceived by Jose Antonio Abreu, the project is now in its 35th year of operation. The development of orchestras in Venezuela has now reached global standards of excellence and, more generally, the improvement in the social condition of the participating children and their families stands as evidence of the extraordinary social potential of such a program.

Music for the Growing Mind, however, does not merely offer a transposition of that original Venezuelan experience to Sichuan. The project will be enriched and its aims broadened by leveraging on the distinguished features of Chinese education and music heritage. As music gains serve as a crucial educational tool, the Chinese musical heritage is not only preserved but uplifted, and elevated to the status of becoming an instrument for development: traditional music becomes a centerpiece for local development and part of the identity of China before the rest of the world.

We will leverage on us being an international organization, further enriching the program with cultural exchanges with important musical institutions worldwide. Among our friends and partners are several renowned orchestra or music schools and conservatory, as well as other foundations active in the field of music education to children. The perspective of these exchanges further broadens the horizon of the children and equips them even better for the future life of them, their family, their community.

 

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