Inspired by Venezuela’s wildly successful El Sistema program, Seth Mausner, a veteran San Francisco Symphony violist, and Jerry Pannone, retired music director of the San Francisco School of the Arts, wanted to bring the program concept to the Bay Area. The program launched in September 2012 at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, in a very under-resourced area of Daly City, just south of San Francisco. This large school offered few other after-school activities and almost no music education.
In 2016 we affiliated with the Harmony Project in Los Angeles to strengthen our program design and curriculum. By 2021 we opened a second site at the largest elementary school in Daly City, which is located next to the middle school that most of these students will attend. This will remove the transportation challenge for middle school students to get to our classes, thus helping with retention.
We also launched an Oakland program in September 2020 with students from Urban Promise Academy Middle School and added a second site at Unity Middle School in 2021. Currently we offer classes at 6 sites in East Oakland. In total, students drawn from over 30 schools in Daly city and Oakalnd participate in our classes.
Our program will continue to be available to students as they graduate to high school and beyond. This longitudinal relationship empowers students to maximize their potential by overcoming obstacles and achieving their goals. Our vision is to expand our offerings so that every child in Daly City and Oakland who wants to study music can get free access to an instrument and musical training.
The primary goals are to improve students' overall academic and life success skills, as well as to provide them with the experience of belonging to a meaningful community. We greatly enhance the very limited music education available at the public schools where we operate.
* To deeply engage children from underserved communities in a multi-year program of ensemble music.
* To build a positive community for children, families, and schools through music.
* To help children develop the habits of mind needed for academic and life success.
Harmony Project Bay Area carries out this mission through the following practices and values:
Striving for Excellence
Sustained, focused learning and practice give children the experience that persistence and patience will pay off in achievements many of them never imagined.
Belonging to a Group
Playing in an ensemble is interactive and fun while also teaching the interpersonal skills vital for academic and life success. Teamwork and cohesive group behavior are learned through the orchestra as an integral part of the program.
Developing Skills for Success
Learning a musical instrument and belonging to an orchestra helps students develop capacities needed for school and future work settings, such as creativity, focus, critical thinking, and nonverbal communication.
Sharing with the Community
Frequent public concerts help students develop vital presentation and performance skills while also helping motivate and sustain kids’ excitement about the program. Performances also help open the program to a larger community.
Helping Others
Peer-to-peer learning is a key part of the program, helping students form healthy relationships. Leadership development also occurs through the process of students teaching and mentoring younger children.
