Boston Raising Powerful Musicians

Youth summer sessions: grcb runs two, week-long summer sessions at a music facility provided through a partnership with the record co. during the summer sessions, 85 youth ages 8-17 receive technical instruction with bass, guitar, drums, keyboard, or vocals. Participants receive two hours of intensive instruction each day with practiced Musicians. Bands write an original song under the guidance of two qualified volunteers. Participants are also given the chance to experiment with other artistic media in our spoken word, 'zine-making, and screen-printing workshops, and attend daily self-esteem building and empowerment workshops such as media literacy and intersectional feminism. After five days of practice and collaboration, each band performs their original song in front of a live audience at brighton music hall in allston. Our summer sessions also include teen leadership opportunities through a youth volunteer program. In the summer of 2022, grcb had 85 youth participants in its youth summer sessions.

Grcb beats: grcb beats uses art, music education, technical training, and performance to help youth grow their confidence, self-expression, peer support, and collaboration skills. Youth in grades 3-6 at the gardner pilot school in allston, ma meet once a week after school during 13-week sessions. The program focuses on both the creation and production of music. Beats curriculum connects our youth to technology and expands their 21st century skills. Grcb provides participants with ipads loaded with launchpad by novation, imovie, and garageband at their disposal and are trained on these programs by adult mentors. Combining technology with creativity allows youth to learn the technological skills needed in our current economy while allowing their imaginations to flourish as they produce original pieces of work. In 2021 - 2022, beats had 25 youth participants.

Ladies rock camp Boston (lrcb): during lrcb, women and gender expansive adults, ages 21 and over, receive instrument instruction, form bands, write original songs, and attend various feminist and music workshops over the course of three days. Lrcb raises financial support for grcb and works to build a supportive community of adults, many who serve as future volunteers. This program serves 70+ adults throughout two annual sessions in march and november. In 2022, lrcb had 24 adult participants.

Summer youth volunteer program: our youth volunteer program partners with ten youth, ages 16-18, who have previously participated in at least one grcb session, demonstrate exceptional maturity and commitment to the mission of grcb, and are interested in greater leadership opportunities at grcb. During our summer sessions, youth volunteers serve as instrument instructors, building curriculum and teaching alongside adult volunteers. Youth volunteers serve as workshop leaders and develop the content and activities for a workshop that is presented to groups of 11-12-year-olds. Past groups have presented representation in the media and identifying positive role models. Additionally, the group writes an original song to perform at the showcase, and each group spends an additional day at the record co., a professional recording studio in the new market neighborhood of Boston, to record their song with a female or gender-expansive sound engineer. In summer 2022, the youth volunteer program had 5 youth participants.youth activism program (yap): grcb's youth activism project (yap) is an opportunity for girls and gender expansive youth, ages 13-17, to deepen their advocacy skills and work together to change the status quo. Grcb youth leaders meet virtually once a week during the 2022 - 2023 school year. They identify issues that impact themselves and their peers, support each other to become educated on the issue, and work together to take real action. This program is facilitated by grcb staff and volunteers, but the issues, education, and action are youth led. As an example, the 2020-2021 cohort focused on the impact of school policing. Their culminating projects were hosting a 4-part workshop series and building a website where their research and additional resources can continue to be accessed. In 2021-2022, yap had 3 youth participants.