Memories of Music:

Our Anniversary Retrospective

Bridge Boston’s Founding Principal, Jen Daly had a vision 15 years ago: there would always be music at Bridge.

When many young students learn music, it’s through private lessons. This can be expensive. 

Bridge is unique because our music classes are mandatory. Rather than opting into an elective, every single Bridge Boston student graduates knowing how to play an instrument. Learning music isn’t a bonus, it’s a stable part of our curriculum that students engage with multiple times per week, like math or ELA.

Bridge Boston is a proud example of El Sistema Music Pedagogy, a method of music education developed in Venezuela in 1975 by José Antonio Abreu. El Sistema “works to ensure every child has access to high-quality music education that celebrates their voice and potential, by supporting a national network of organizations & educators.” As a whole, “El Sistema believes that learning music can set students on a path of self-discovery and improve life skills such as patience, persistence, and confidence.” This mission aligns directly with Bridge’s own – we are in the business of removing barriers to education, to support the whole child socially-emotionally, in school, and beyond. Music integrated into the school day – beginning in 2012, just one year after opening – is just one way we achieve this. 

One of the early markers of a Bridge music education is our annual Paper Violins tradition. At the end of second grade, families of students are invited to assist in creating their own paper mache instrument. As they learn new parts of the violin, they are added into their piece. At just 8 years old Bridge students have developed confidence in holding, positioning, and beginning to play the violin.

The El Sistema-inspired music program is central to the community at Bridge Boston. In addition to Paper Violins, our families are engaged through multiple music performances every school year. In April, Bridge Boston students flood the Strand Theater to share in a night of music with families. Every student from 3rd to 8th grade plays music with their class. Bridge students this year have additionally performed with Black Violin, EmbraceBoston, and during other school traditions like before winter break. Prior to Covid, it wasn’t unusual to see Bridge students performing at the entrance to the Zoo, followed by a park potluck picnic.

Empowered by their Bridge Boston education, our alumni continue to play after graduation. This includes auditioning for their high school orchestras, playing for their churches, attending Boston Arts Academy, borrowing an instrument over the summer, or even joining current BBCS scholars onstage at our concerts.

Bridge isn’t alone in our mission of bringing consistent music lessons to Boston-area youth: many of the music class instructors come to Bridge through Community Performances and Partnerships (CPP) through the New England Conservatory. This organization supports musicians by connecting them to music-based community service, including part-time teaching at Bridge Boston. While many of these musicians arrive with ample knowledge of music, they leave inspired by their teaching experience, with many even hired back to Bridge while pursuing their education degree. 

Bridge Boston’s innovative El Sistema music program – characterized by violin, viola, and bass, opportunities for live performance, and multiple rehearsal times during the school day per week, is a historic way our community shows up for our students. At Bridge, students learn not only how to play, listen to, and appreciate music; they also learn how to persevere through challenges, to hold themselves to high standards, and to achieve in ways they may not have expected.

Jen’s dream of music has absolutely come true: roaming through the halls of Bridge Boston, you’ll always hear stringed rehearsals of some kind. Since opening our doors, music has been integral to the Bridge Boston community, and will continue to be for years to come.