A Fermata Over YMA

A fermata in music means to sustain or prolong a note, which is exactly what the Young Musicians of Alamance needs in this moment: sustainability. COVID-19 has prevented our participants from being able to perform, gather to rehearse, and our teaching artists have been out of work. Research from the Wallace Foundation’s 2020 Special Edition Culture Track Survey shows the majority of participants surveyed (61%) agree that arts and cultural organizations are among the top industries negatively impacted by COVID-19. However, only 16% agree that we should support arts nonprofit organizations in the community before financially supporting others. The community is aware that arts nonprofits are struggling, but not willing to offer support to sustain us. Therefore, we must turn to alternative funding and grants to keep the arts in our communities.

As the only nonprofit music education organization in Alamance County, YMA provides a need to the community through access to equitable cultural experiences. Research has shown that participating in music education fosters literacy, emotion regulation, empathy, cognition, self-confidence, creativity, problem-solving, and listening skills. Music education also improves student retention in school, academic performance, higher test scores, and increases graduate rates. Many of the children YMA serves live in poverty and face barriers surrounding poor cognitive, emotional, physical, and social development. In addition, poverty widens the achievement gap causing children to fall behind in executive functioning and literacy skills. By including children experiencing poverty in Alamance County to participate in free music education lessons, YMA aids in increasing the holistic health and wellness of each child to ensure lifelong success. 

In 2019-2020 YMA served 62 families in Alamance County. 66% of students are female and 34% are male. Our student population represents the global majority, people of color. About 75% of our students are students of color. The largest portion of these students, about 50%, are Hispanic/Latino. The second largest demographic, Black/African American students, comprises 32% of students. Finally, the remainder of our students or, 18%, are white. We also serve students and families with disabilities and offer accommodations and modifications to allow successful participation in the program.

YMA has doubled in size since the past year. We need your support to manage our growth!