Community MusicWorks

Founded in 1997 with the conviction that musicians can have meaningful careers that unite artistry and public service, Community MusicWorks is a community-based organization with an annual budget of approximately $1 million that builds long-term learning and mentoring relationships between professional musicians, children, and families in Providence, Rhode Island's most diverse and underserved neighborhoods.

CMW's mission is to create cohesive urban community—through music education and performance—that transforms the lives of children, families, and musicians. Our model is centered on the teaching, mentoring, program design, and performance activities of our musicians-in-residence, the Community MusicWorks Players and participants in a two-year Fellowship Program for young professional musicians.

CMW applies an innovative approach to music education that features the relationship between music and community development. In 2010, CMW's after-school programming was celebrated by First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House and CMW's Founder & Artistic Director was the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship for his work "creating rewarding musical experiences for often-forgotten populations and forging a new, multifaceted role beyond the concert hall for the twenty-first-century musician."