Learn more about our recent projects
Santa Cruz Juvenile Hall
For our 16th season we are delighted to bring back our series of music programs for youth at juvenile hall running from January through May. These photos are from March sessions featuring Sound Impact’s Music of Revolution program part of which included students composing their own melodies.
David Arben
In January, to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day, we shared the life of David Arben with 600 students and staff at Windward School in Los Angeles. A copy of the Arben biography was gifted to the school's library where we trust his story will continue to inspire this and future generations.
Clarinet student Angelyt Escorcia
Rebecca and her father at the most recent David Arben film screening at the Palo Alto Rinconada Library.
In February we shared David Arben with an audience of music students in Panama City at Funsincopa Summer Camp in partnership with Sound Impact. It was a powerful gathering with many tears shed in honor of Mr. Arben and his family. Now available with Spanish subtitles, we look forward to sharing his story with more Spanish-speaking audiences!
In March we shared the life of Arben with the 6th graders at Crossfield Elementary School in Herndon, VA. This photo is from our last program for their students in January of 2020.
In-Person Youth Programs!
May 2021 marked our first in-person youth programs since 2019. We performed for nearly 1,000 students and staff at Watsonville schools. After over 30 programs on Zoom (since January 2021) for students at Santa Cruz Juvenile Hall, seeing the students react to the vibrations created by live musicians were moments we will not soon forget. Thank you to our on-going musical partner Sound Impact and its talented featured collective members, Tiffany Richardson, Katie Youn, Insun Jang, and Angela Lee!
Our May youth outreach continued with festival artists giving a masterclass for students at Cabrillo College and return visits to Hall District and Starlight Elementary Schools as well as our 19th program of the season at Santa Cruz Juvenile Hall.
Community Engagement - First Family Music Night
On May 26th, 2021 we celebrated our first annual Family Music Night at Starlight Elementary School in Watsonville, a free community concert featuring the debut of the Harmony Youth Choir alongside Music in May Festival Artists. PC: Kevin Monahan and Elliot Lovell
Harmony Youth Choir
The Harmony Choir grew out of a vision in 2019 that Kate Alm and Rebecca Jackson-Picht share for serving underserved youth through music. Harmony Youth Choir, one part of the trio of Musical Soulmates projects (Suzuki Piano Studio, Harmony Youth Choir, and Performer’s Collective) nurtures the whole child through music. Each session builds community through disciplined and joyful music making. Students receive vocal training, learn diction, movement, positive message songs, music reading through hand motions, and ear training from co leaders. The Harmony Youth Choir develops the next generation of youth leaders in music while closing the racial gap in performance representation for youth as young as six years old, and cultivates resilience and joy.
Special thanks to Everyone’s Music School for providing rehearsal space and to Starlight Elementary for hosting our first annual Family Music Night featuring the debut of the Harmony Youth Choir.
Arben Film for Young Audiences
Prior to the 2021 public premiere of the Arben docufilm, it was shown in private screenings for hundreds of students with Rebecca and her father, Dr. John Jackson leading Q&A discussions following. Above: Film screenings for sophomores at Scotts Valley High School.
We launched our 2022 youth outreach at the Santa Cruz Juvenile Hall on February 10th beginning with sharing the life of violinist and Holocaust survivor David Arben. Because of the students interest to learn more, their teacher shared that they will be adding an entire unit about the Holocaust. Students shared their impressions/lessons learned:
“Chase your dream and never quit.”
“Don’t take life for granted.”
“I feel inspired to play an instrument.”
Music Programs for Youth
In 2021 MiM presented 11 different musicians representing Hong Kong, Russia, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, China, Venezuela and around the U.S. They shared their personal journey and music’s significance in their lives. Within this series of 18 music e-ducation classes, the youth learned about 9 different classical instruments, heard live and recorded performance, and learned many of the tools that musicians use to practice, perform, communicate, and work with others effectively. One highlight was when Wendy Law led an improvisation activity in which the youth contributed words and rhythms that inspired the creation of a new piece of music.
Continuing this series, in 2022 MiM presented 12 musicians including famed jazz drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. in dynamic programs to educate and uplift youth. Some of the highlights this season included performing newly written compositions by the students as well as teaching them centering activities that can provide calm during life’s high pressure tasks.
Giuseppina Ciarla in Sarasota, Florida
Rufus Olivier, Jr. in California
Anita Graef in Chicago, IL
Ulysses Owens, Jr. in Jacksonville, FL
Jaime Amador in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Julietta Curenton in Maryland
David Byrd-Marrow in Colorado
Wendy Law in Florida
Konstantin Soukhovetski in New York
Juan Jaramillo in Pennsylvania
Denis Jiron in Michigan
Matt Young and Elizabeth Schumann in San Francisco, CA
Film production to honor the life of Holocaust survivor and celebrated violinist, David Arben
MiM partnered with Greg Wimp, owner of Togo’s to present a series of surprise holiday pop up concerts in front of his local shops in Scotts Valley, Watsonville and Capitola. Duos were performed by Rebecca Jackson-Picht, Kristin Garbeff, and Alexandra Leem. We are grateful to Greg for giving us a platform to share music with all of these neighborhoods.
“My mother-in-law has been isolated in preparation for a medical procedure. Thank you for lifting her spirits.”