This program is designed as a unified, comprehensive, three-phase curriculum project spanning an entire school year. LIC uses a concept-based arts integration model where a musical concept is explored alongside other art and academic areas that authentically… 

The Southeastern Massachusetts Youth Orchestras (SEMAYO) program was established in 2008 under the auspices of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra for students from beginners to advanced college players.

In the Fanfare Project, students select a person in their lives that is deserving of their own fanfare. Students then compose an original fanfare for their recipient using the NBSO’s graphic music composition program Compose-it Fanfare Edition. At a presentation event, students read their dedication to their recipient, and a musician performs the student’s original fanfare.

The NBSO has introduced Pathway to Performance, a free private lesson program in partnership with New Bedford schools, erasing another barrier preventing all our young people from having equitable access to instrumental performance instruction. Educating and enriching the lives of children is a central part of our mission. By offering a Pathway to Performance to children who love music and want it to be a big part of their life, we are expanding and deepening this commitment to our community.

In the Pre-K Music and Literacy program, children discover the similarities between the rhythmic features of words and the rhythmic sounds we hear in music. Using the NBSO’s original musical children’s book A Concert at the Zoo, students perform animal and instrument word pairs using speaking and drumming patterns. Following the classroom sessions, the students visit the local zoo to perform their animal/instrument rhythmic patterns for the animals.

This emphasis on the sounds of words is based on research that shows that listening comprehension is a predictor of reading comprehension and fluency.