For 10 years, the Boston Music Project has provided music-based Creative Youth Development programming to our City’s most vulnerable youth. We have grown from serving 50 K-5th grade students at one Boston Public School, to now serving over 650 Pre-K-12th grade students at ten schools! In celebration of these milestones, we are excited to celebrate with you at our BMP Block Party!
On Saturday June 4th from 11AM-2PM join us for a series of free performances and classes on at the Rowes Wharf Plaza parcel of Boston's iconic Rose Kennedy Greenway.
Check out some of the events and programming you can expect this Saturday!
Music & Movement Classes
We'll have three sessions of family-friendly music and movement programming for children and families of all ages! Children will sing songs, dance to music, and enjoy story time led by BMP Teaching Artists. Caregivers are encouraged to attend and take part in the music games with their children. Classes will begin at 11:00, 11:45, and 12:30 and will last approximately 20 minutes each. Register here!
Performances by BMP Students & Teaching Artists
We have a full lineup of performances from orchestras in our Josiah Quincy School and Croft School programs as well as performances from our Teaching Artists! Friends can expect to hear performances by our BMP jazz quartet, classical quartet, world music trio, funk band, and more throughout the day.
Instrument Petting Zoo & Youth Music Games
If you've ever wanted to try your hand at an instrument, this is your chance! From 11AM-1PM, we'll have an interactive Instrument Petting Zoo where friends can pick up, play, and learn more about a variety of instruments.
Featured Performer : Paul Willis
Returning home to Boston after a decade in Sacramento, CA, Paul Willis is a hip-hop/spoken word artist and diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant. Willis’ career highlights as a creative professional with ties to youth-focused and social justice nonprofits include starting up City Year Sacramento, leading programming for MLK365, providing leadership and executive coaching for the Nehemiah Emerging Leaders Program, teaching Hip Hop leadership workshops in the juvenile hall, serving on multiple nonprofit boards and more - all while releasing 11+ music projects in a ten-year span. Most recently, Paul Willis won the 2021 BAMS Fest Verses or Vibes competition and re-released a Teacher’s Edition of his Wonderland album and film in June 2022. Excited to be starting over with experience, Willis' 16-year professional career in the arts, education, leadership development, and social justice-driven organizations has provided Paul with a unique lens to see the world and shape it.
Guest Emcee : Naheem Garcia
Naheem Garcia arrived in Boston from Cuba in 1968. He is the Founder and Lead Teaching Artist for NG Edutainment, an arts education program, founded in Boston Massachusetts. He has been a teaching artist for the Huntington Theatre Company for over 27 years and recently joined the American Repertory Theatre (ART) as a teaching artist for their production of 1776 doing pre-show presentations in several Boston Public Schools. He is the Speaker in Residence for the METCO Program at Sharon High School in Sharon, MA; leads acting workshops with the Boston Police Department’s youth program, “Acting Up With the 5-0”; and has served as a teaching artist at Salva Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island. He is a member of AFTRA-SAG New England and has appeared in several prominent Hollywood feature films, TV, and local and national commercials.
All events, classes, and performances are free and open to the public! Registration is encouraged. A special thanks to the Rose Kennedy Greenway for their partnership and for providing the space to make this celebration possible. We look forward to seeing you for a fun-filled day of music, games, and celebration!
