Hello,
When it comes to
Music Moves Hartford
, we sometimes wonder: who is serving who? One of our musicians, Alvin, despite his own increased needs, took the time to call and check on Kevin last week. Over the past year, Alvin has taught us all a lot about courage and staying positive. He served in the Gulf Wars. He and another veteran in the program are helping plan the MMH Veteran's Day concert on November 11. Alvin is always smiling, gives great hugs and is the first one to break out in a solo. Even through the phone, Alvin’s positive spirit was felt.
This week marks the 2-year anniversary of
Music Moves Hartford,
a music education program that is a partnership between
Cuatro Puntos
and Christ Church Cathedral. Since starting with four people, we now have over 200 musicians on our roster at three locations – Christ Church Cathedral (home of
Hands On Hartford
MANNA soup kitchen),
South Park Inn
, and
New Horizons Village
. This includes 45 singers in the
Music Moves Hartford Street Choir,
the publicly performing choir
.
Partners in other communities are interested in launching similar education programs that are
modeled on
Music Moves Hartford
.
Together Christ Church Cathedral and Cuatro Puntos have formalized
Music Moves Connecticut
, opening our unique music education programs to communities around the state. Meetings are underway to bring launch programs in
Norwich
and
New London
.
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A Volunteer Continues To Care
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Ken joined the MMH team last year after attending one of our concerts and learning we were looking for volunteers. To say he’s been a big help is an understatement – each Wednesday he comes early to set up and stays late to distribute bus passes. He makes an effort to call every singer by their first name (did we mention there are 45?!). Since MMH meetings have been put on hold, Ken is at the Hands on Hartford soup kitchen giving out bagged lunches several days each week.
Watch this 1-minute video of Ken leading the singers in Dona Nobis Pachem (Grant Us Peace). Guaranteed to produce joy!
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Social Distancing Runs Counter To Our Vision
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This week Kevin talked with NPR's Ray Hardman about what it's like to run an organization like Cuatro Puntos during these times – an organization that was created to bring people
together
.
“The whole premise of Cuatro Puntos has been that music can be used for healing and for bringing people together, and obviously now the whole world has flipped around and suddenly bringing people together is exactly not what we are supposed to do.”
Read the NPR story
here
.
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ABOUT CUATRO PUNTOS
Cuatro Puntos
is a multi-faceted, non-profit organization that activates music as a pragmatic and universally accessible stimulus for social change, cultural awareness, and empowerment of the underserved. Serving Connecticut,
Cuatro Puntos
hosts a mixed-genre concert series in multiple cities as well as music/curriculum alignment programs in school classrooms in Hartford (in partnership with
Hartford Performs
) and beyond. Our roster of local, professional musicians, known as
Cuatro Puntos Ensemble
, collaborate with local, national, and international guest artists to produce genre-defying and culturally significant concert programing and album recordings. Aiming for the highest in artistic excellence while working alongside socially significant artists such as the
Afghanistan National Institute of Music
and musician activist Ameen Mokdad (Mosul, Iraq),
Cuatro Puntos Ensemble
has been reviewed by
Fanfare Magazine
as having a “great depth of sound” and “virtuostic performance”. They have performed extensively throughout the United States as well as in Bolivia, Brazil, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Turkey, and Afghanistan. To date they have produced six albums of varying genres and styles on major international record labels like
Métier
and
Toccata Classics
. They have been included on the soundtrack for films produced in England, Australia, and Afghanistan, and have been guest lecturers at prestigious universities such as
New England Conservatory
(Boston),
Columbia University
(New York),
Institute for Cultural Diplomacy
(Germany), and
Goldsmiths College
(London).
Cuatro Puntos'
crowning achievement, in equal partnership and co-foundership with Hartford's Christ Church Cathedral, is
Music Moves Connecticut.
MMCT is a participatory music program building community and a safe space for expression among those living on the streets, in shelters, and in various states of housing insecurity around the state. It includes
Music Moves Norwich
and the
Music Moves Hartford Street Choir.
Recently featured by WNPR and NBC, this first street choir in the northeast has been taking the city by storm with its animated performances. All of
Cuatro Puntos'
programs aim to activate music's potential as one of many relevant, viable, and complementary methods for creating a more just and inclusive society.
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Connect with us on our social channels ⬇️ and Spotify!
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Cuatro Puntos
Office at Christ Church Cathedral
45 Church Street,
Hartford, CT 06103
860-498-3279
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