BRONX ARTS ENSEMBLE INC
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Mission Statement
Our recently updated mission is: The mission of the Bronx Arts Ensemble is to bring music and related arts to Bronx schools and neighborhoods. We contribute to the cultures of our Bronx communities through live performance and innovative arts education that stimulate creativity, imagination, and aspirations. BAE provides services in 2 distinct components, professional live music performance & arts education - bringing music, dance, drama and visual arts that promote joy and understanding among the people of the Bronx. Admission is low-priced and often free, assuring that BAE’s mission of cultural enrichment may be accessible to all. Vision The vision of the Bronx Arts Ensemble is to make music and related arts accessible and integral to the lives of all Bronxites. We seek to increase the benefits of arts and culture and to foster the love of music with programs that enrich the education of young people and bring together Bronx communities of all ages. Goals: • To engage artists and educators in the development and presentation of high quality, innovative art • To develop strong relationships with schools, educational stakeholders and civic leaders that support young people, and to promote their advancement • To forge community partnerships throughout the Bronx that expand artistic and educational venues and engage diverse audiences.
About This Cause
The complexity of the Bronx can be seen in the ethnic ebb and flow of our unique neighborhoods that more than 1.4 million people call home. A recent Bronx census showed unexpected population gains resulting from higher levels of immigration than planners have predicted. As recently as 2012, Bronx County had the highest poverty rate (31%) and the highest child poverty rate in the Northeast (44.5%), a trend that will pose extraordinary challenges to educational and other social services. Bronx Arts Ensemble (BAE) successfully addresses these monumental challenges. We understand that the connective power of live music performance and arts education inspires students and adults to better understand, appreciate, and sustain the rich cultures in the Bronx. Each year we present over 50 live music programs to more than 35,000 people throughout the borough. Our programming is diverse in culture and period; drawing not only from the classics but also commissioning and performing new American works as well as incorporating Latin, Afro-Cuban and other world music elements. Recent seasons have included: our core ensemble performing music on transgender and environmental themes by Bronx composer Laura Kaminsky, a hands-on lecture demonstration and concert for high school students at Bronx Community College by jazz vibraphonist Jay Hoggard, an intimate home concert with NY Philharmonic principal clarinetist Anthony McGill and a special series featuring performance and arrangements by Pablo Zinger, internationally recognized pianist and composer at Pregones Theater and Lehman College. BAE is committed to present free and affordable performances directly to local neighborhoods that might not otherwise have access to these programs. Our Live Music performance programs are inextricably linked to our vibrant Arts-In-Education (AiE) program that is the foundation of our creative Youth Development initiative. With an understanding that for many of our borough’s young students access to music, visual art, movement, and performing arts is often lackluster and in many cases not available, BAE has developed customized, dynamic AIE programs that have served over 120,000 since 1993. BAE currently contracts 70+ teaching artists in 40 Bronx public schools, K-12. At many of these schools, BAE is the only arts education provider. The majority of our AiE students are minorities and impoverished. Many are considered at risk, due to factors such as limited language proficiency, adjustment to recent immigration, increased gang activity and an overall lack of community resources. Parents, teachers, and administrators know that our quality AiE program encourages young people to explore and engage through artistic creation. Classes take place in various locations in the schools depending on capacity. Some classes may take place in the auditorium where theater students have full use of the stage while other classes take place in a classroom that has been rearranged to fit a drumming circle. The focus is given to the quality of the arts education - the teaching of skills and techniques, the development of an aesthetic awareness, the pursuit of an understanding of the world, and a shared understanding of the arts as an outlet for self - expression. Our school partnerships are extraordinarily strong. Teaching artists are often multiracial and multilingual and are keenly aware of the ethnic, linguistic and socioeconomic parameters of the student population. At least 75% of BAE’s teaching artists return to the same school each year, providing educational scaffolding and deeper curriculum connections. BAE can provide classes in Music: woodwinds, percussion, violin, recorder, clarinet, keyboard, guitar, chorus, band. Dance and Movement: ballroom dance, Latin dance, African dance, hip-hop, modern dance, capoeira, Zumba, yoga, makulele, taekwondo, judo. Visual Arts: costume design, set design, murals, fashion design. Theater: musical theater, drama, improvisation. Classes take place during school time or after school, between two to five days a week, based on school resources. BAE Teaching Artists provide arts services in environments populated with students that are classified as Special Needs (IEP specific), English Language Learners (ELLs), and Transitional (homeless), which present many challenges for instruction. Equally challenging are the issues of large class sizes, shared classroom space, social and economic disparities, cultural differences and general academic issues. All these challenges warrant supportive professional development to aid BAE Teaching Artists to present their materials, focused on literacy, critical thinking, and analysis, with the best practices desired by the NYC Department of Education. Our professional teaching artists engage students in exciting arts experiences and assist schools in reaching the goals and benchmarks of the Blueprints for Teaching and Learning in the Arts. We play an active role in collaborating with our public school partners to expand arts education throughout the school system – inspiring students of diverse background and ages to imagine, create, and achieve success. Through the use of teacher and student surveys that indicate student attendance, academic performance, and affinity, BAE solicits qualitative feedback from each school's administration, teachers, and students after the program is delivered to gauge the level of effectiveness. This allows us to adjust our programming for the following year, if needed and monitor the progress of our students. These measures provide us with invaluable insight into the effectiveness of our programs.