Though the academic and overall benefits of studying and even listening to music are undisputed, music can do more for those who perform and appreciate it than help them learn a new skill or stay calm in stressful times. That is why programs like the Josiah Quincy Orchestra Program (JQOP) are so important to students and to the community.
“Many of our families and partners see us as just a music program,” admits JQOP Executive Director Graciela Briceno. Even so, she and her colleagues have been trying to encourage participants, parents, and others to appreciate the larger benefits of the JQOP and of music education in general.
The JQOP’s mission is to ensure both musical and social success for students in Boston public schools. And while the group strives for (and attains) high performance quality, the “primary goal” is the social success of students and their families. In fact, instead of seeing it just as a music program, Briceno perceives and promotes the JQOP (which she helped develop in 2011) as a “social program that uses music.” It is this additional element that helps set JQOP apart from other performance programs.
“Helping children develop teamwork, leadership, and self-efficacy from a young age is a core concept of what makes [our program] different from traditional orchestra programs,” she suggests.
As JQOP students work on these and other skills for many hours every week, all of the benefits can be encouraged and engaged more effectively and profoundly.
“Because our teachers work with these kids for up to two hours every day,” Briceno observes, “they have the time to make a significant musical and social impact.”
Briceno goes so far as to liken the intensity of the JQOP to community orchestras and private lessons.
“Of course there is a great deal of excellent music teaching happening on a daily basis,” Briceno says, “but in addition to that, the students are learning a lot about working as a team and creating a community.”
In addition to teaching notes and scales, the JQOP also engenders and encourages patience, turn-taking, collaboration and other aspects involved with self-regulation and executive function.
“Although it is still being studied,” Briceno hypothesizes, “I believe that learning a musical instrument can improve a child’s executive functions because you have to use both hands and learn ho to read the music and coordinate a lot in the brain.”
While the JQOP offers many public programs (including their annual Winter Concert in December, a Chinese New Year celebration at the end of January and seasonal concerts in March and June March), they also celebrate themselves at monthly Community Days that help build morale and a sense of community among the 130 performers.
“These days typically include informal performances from some of the ensembles,” Breicno explains, “which give students a chance to show off their musical works in progress to their peers, and also gives the students in the audience a chance to hear what some of the other kids are learning.” Community Days also include some sort of celebration that is linked to a monthly theme, such as a costume party in October, as well as teambuilding activities in which the students can put down their instruments and pick up other ways to make friends and learn together.
“All of these activities…have been helping our students become a part of a community of learners,” Briceno observes, “with one unifying thread that brought us all together- music.”
As she is a lifelong music student as well, Briceno can look back on what has worked best and had the greatest impact on her life and career and bring it to her students in the JQOP.
“I personally have experienced the feeling of being in a musical community at many points in my life, throughout elementary and secondary school, college, and professionally,” she says. “and it is one of the most rewarding and enjoyable experiences: to meet new friends and strengthen those friendships by performing and understanding music together.”