Intensive Community Program: History
At the BYSO we believe that with the proper training every child with dedication and interest has the potential to become an accomplished musician. Unfortunately, many students from inner city communities in Boston lack the financial resources to study classical music outside of their school curriculum. While some music programs do exist in Boston schools, high quality string instrument training is not one of the major focus areas of this education. Consequently, students from Boston have historically not been able to audition successfully for BYSO’s orchestras.
In 1998, the BYSO set out to address this issue by creating the Intensive Community Program (ICP), a rigorous stringed instrument training program serving students from Boston’s inner-city. ICP accepts young students (ages 6-8) who show exceptional interest in studying stringed instruments and provides them with need-based financial aid for weekly music lessons, ensemble classes and instrument rental. The purpose of ICP is to bring fine music training to students who may not otherwise have access to it, enabling them to pass auditions to enter one of BYSO’s four orchestras. Once admitted into a BYSO orchestra, ICP students receive support in the form of tuition subsidy, weekly lessons and use of an instrument until they graduate from high school. Prior to ICP, only 1% of BYSO students represented inner-city communities in Boston. After ten years, BYSO’s student body diversity has reached a high of 21%. Currently, there are a total of 62 students in ICP, the oldest in twelfth grade and the youngest in second grade.
For many years years, The National Endowment for the Arts has supported the ICP. In a recent funding cycle, NEA panelists praised the high artistic quality and teaching methods of the ICP, calling it a model music training program for underserved youth. Locally, the Massachusetts Cultural Council recognized the artistic merit of BYSO and the ICP with the 2003 Commonwealth Award, the state’s highest honor in the arts. Finally, the spring 2003 issue of Boston Magazine listed ICP’s Founding Artistic Director, Bonnie Black, as one of Boston’s most influential women due to her work with ICP.