Project Rhythm

Mission & Vision: Project Rhythm is a nonprofit organization dedicated to using music as an instrument for youth empowerment – engaging youth from underserved communities through hands-on music education, instruction, collaboration, recording, production, and performance.

Project Rhythm seeks to harness the transformative power of the creative process to uplift and empower youth. We believe that by mobilizing individuals and organizations dedicated to building innovative music programs for youth, we can instill a sense of confidence responsibility in young people, empowering them to make positive life choices and develop marketable skills.

About: Project Rhythm is a nonprofit organization that responds to a demand for youth music programs and helps to fill a growing void in music education. Founder Jamin Gilbert (also founder and president of Ishlab and Ishlab Music Studios) first began thinking about ways to use music to help kids back in 2003, when a friend and he came up with the idea for a nonprofit called Project Rhythm. But the concept didn’t begin to take shape until 2007, when Jamin received a call from another friend wanting to know if he could develop a program of music classes for an organization called Camp Amerikids. Jamin agreed to help, and one year later Project Rhythm was born.

Project Rhythm (Reaching Youth Through Music) is based on the premise that music can be an effective instrument for youth education and empowerment. Our programs assist community-based organizations in the New York City area in implementing music education programs that can help young people in underserved communities improve their cognitive skills and build self-confidence. We provide equipment, funding, staff, and training, and other support to help provide instruction on musicianship, collaboration, and technical skills related to music recording and production. In addition, we can help youth participating in these programs gain hands-on experience at professional music studios and related businesses. So far, more than 100 young people have participated in our programs, gaining knowledge on topics such as music theory, engineering, and performance. Our instructors include musicians, producers, and engineers, as well guest speakers who are DJs, artists, and music business professionals. Using our scalable models we aim to serve many more young people in years to come.