Amplify This: Marigold Music Program
(L-R) Khadija Mbowe, Charlotte Siegel, and Kevin Mulligan, leaders of Marigold Music Program.
It's not news to say that this past year has proven to be an extremely challenging time for the arts. However, the resulting socio-economic upheaval has given rise to calls for change, for society to do better, and to unite to empower voices that have so far been overlooked. Amplified Opera is excited to highlight organizations in the community working towards a more equitable future. Today we would like to introduce the Marigold Music Program (MMP), an organization committed to enriching the lives of Toronto's youth through the gift of music.
Khadija Mbowe, Charlotte Siegel, and Kevin Mulligan, three talented and ambitious University of Toronto alumni, gathered together to share their belief that “music has the power to free the voices of the youth.” Their mission statement on the MMP website also goes on to explain the trio’s goal of giving music access to Toronto’s marginalized young population through three divisions: creating a university course at the Faculty of Music, a week-long summer music intensive, and starting their own 1-on-1 mentoring. “We aim to support young people in embracing their interests and passions, regardless of existing societal structures. In order to meet our long-term goals, we are breaking down barriers by allowing youth access to the myriad of choices they have power to create.”
Mbowe wants to put an emphasis on a “bottom-up approach as well, not just a top-down approach.” They are continuing their work at U of T by introducing a Civic Engagement and Community Co-op course, with Music Education professor Dr. Bina John, which will be introduced in the Fall of 2021. Mbowe says they are setting up a curriculum “...to give students self and social awareness, agency, and compassion” to better engage with the communities around them. Siegel elaborates that the course will include a variety of speakers (musicians, life coaches, and directors), and students will also receive guidance from Mbowe, Mulligan, or herself. In terms of their future 1-on-1 mentoring division, she continues to convey, “I would not be where I am today without [...] people advocating for me, supporting me, and cheering me on.” After launching their pilot programs, MMP hopes to create a cycle of music community leaders who can continually give back in many different ways.
We also want to congratulate MMP on receiving the Pillar Sponsorship Program Grant, a wonderful initiative sponsored by the University of Toronto that is open to alumni, students, and staff. They are also the recipients of the Ontario Arts Council for Artists in Communities and School Projects grant.With these grants, The Marigold Music Program will be creating a fully-funded, one-week summer music intensive for youth ages 14-18. This program will provide participants the opportunity to learn about multiple aspects of music-making with other U of T alumni and faculty. Programming will be specifically catered to the individual applicants, centering the student in the music-making process. Mulligan expresses, “In order for [this program] to be accessible, it needs to be fully-funded for the participants. So, the grant writing started... This grant has a huge focus on the alumni of U of T, and hiring our fellow emerging musicians is also important to us.” They are grateful for their generous sponsors, MBNA Canada and TD Insurance, who have preferred rates for the U of T community found at affinity.utoronto.ca.
We are incredibly inspired to see all the hard work that The Marigold Music Program has put into these projects, and we cannot wait to see what the future holds!
For more information we invite you to view their website and facebook page:
