Empowering students through music

From Riverside Symphony’s early years performing free open dress rehearsals for inner-city school children, sharing classical music’s transcendent power with young people has been central to the orchestra’s founding mission. In 1999, this commitment found more potent expression through the launching of Music Memory, today one of New York City’s most widely valued educational programs. Starting with just a handful of schools at the outset, Music Memory quickly expanded to all five boroughs, today serving thousands of third-through sixth-grade public school children annually.

At a cost of only $75 per school, Music Memory introduces young people to sixteen timeless musical works through a dynamic, highly innovative classroom learning program, while Riverside Symphony provides free, ongoing support to participating teachers through professional development workshops. The program culminates every spring in the spectacular Music Memory Citywide Finals, a “Name-That-Tune”-type event held at New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Competing for highest honors on behalf of their schools, the students, in five-member teams, display extraordinary newfound skills by identifying the names and composers of the works they have studied based on musical excerpts—some as obscure as a single chord—played live, onstage by Riverside Symphony.

Music Memory has been recommended by three successive Directors of New York City Department of Education’s Music Department/Division and other leading arts educators.

Major Corporate Sponsors

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Additional support is provided by the William R. Kenan Charitable Trust, The Kindermorgan Foundation, The TD Bank Foundation, and the Music Performance Trust Fund.