Harmony Program

On Friday night, the PBS NewsHour ran a 10-minute segment on the Harmony Program -- including interviews with students, parents, teachers, and administrators -- to demonstrate how Harmony is using classical music instruction to help children realize their strengths, talents, and potential. The piece culminates with the children's performance under the direction of Maestro Plácido Domingo at this year's annual gala in January.

Watch NY Arts Program Brings 'Harmony' to Low-Income Students on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

On January 25th, to celebrate the release of her new book, Changing Lives, author Tricia Tunstall presented chapter excerpts and discussed with Harmony Program director Anne Fitzgibbon the "transformative power of music." The book, published by W.W. Norton, examines El Sistema in America and features Ms. Fitzgibbon and a number of our P.S. 152 students and teachers. The evening was capped off by a performance by three of our talented P.S. 152 students who performed a selection for string trio.

On June 10th and 11th, Anne Fitzgibbon shared the work of the Harmony Program with colleagues in Seoul, South Korea where, in the spirit of Venezuela's famous "El Sistema," they are initiating their own Orchestras of Dreams to broaden music's impact on Korean youth. Subsequently, as an official partner to their effort, the Harmony Program hosted a prominent Korean delegation in New York City in July for further discussions.