Project Harmony Students Gain Lifelong Skills in End of Year Concert

Project Harmony, a community-based orchestra outreach program for students in grades 2-5, has a nine-year history of providing access to outstanding arts education plus all the benefits it brings.

A partnership between Arts+ and the Charlotte Symphony (CSO), Project Harmony helps students develop lifelong skills in active listening, discipline, and collaboration as they learn to care for their instruments, play new songs, and work together. At the end of the year, Project Harmony puts on a concert for family, friends, and the community. Performing on stage allows students to build even more lifelong skills.

When a student is on stage, whether they are playing their instrument or introducing their song selection, they are building skills beyond the musical. These moments cultivate confidence and teach how to present in front of an audience. “This year, we were proud to give several of our graduating fifth-grade students not only the opportunity to perform but also to present and speak about the music they were preparing,” Associate Director of Music Programs Kinsey Fournier says. “They wrote out their remarks and practiced with our staff—similar to how they practice their pieces on their instruments!” These experiences encourage ownership, poise, and collaboration, which are skills that will extend beyond our practice rooms.

“Whether they pursue music in the future or not, our students are gaining tools that will support them in classroom presentations, team projects, interviews—any setting where strong communication matters!” Kinsey says.

Arts+ is grateful for these partners that make Project Harmony possible: Charlotte Symphony, Brungard Family Foundation, Living Saviour Lutheran Church, D'Addario Foundation.