Past Programs
S’Cool Sounds has partnered with extraordinary nonprofit organizations around the world, providing programs which offer the transformative experience of making music together.
BURUNDI
S’Cool Sounds began work in Kigutu, Burundi in 2013 through a partnership with Village Health Works, an extraordinary organization that had already established an exceptional youth program for Burundian traditional music.
VHW sought the means to supplement its musical initiatives with a program in Western music and literacy for community children and their teachers. As Nina Stern explains, “We consider this entire program to be a sharing of traditions.”
SYRIAN REFUGEES IN JORDAN
“Songs for Syrians” is a music and dance program designed for Syrian refugee children living in Jordan. Launched in 2016, in partnership with The Syria Fund (now the Azraq Education and Community Fund), this SCS project has reached several hundred children across 4 refugee schools in Jordan. Local music teachers use the SCS approach for group instruction.
Songs for Syrians was piloted in Jordan together with Montessori Music Specialist and SCS Advisory Board member, Matilda Giampietro. Classes rely on instrumental music, song, and dance to teach elements of melody, rhythm, and composition/improvisation. SCS trips to Azraq have culminated in concert-celebrations for the wider community featuring Syrian students, teachers, and local musicians who perform both traditional Syrian songs and music brought from the U.S. SCS Teaching Artists have integrated this program within their classrooms in NYC by connecting U.S. students with Syrian children in Azraq and learning traditional Syrian melodies.
