““Musicians of the Old Post Road is committed to reaching diverse audiences, from school-aged children to senior citizens, with its music. The ensemble strives to bring quality presentations and performances to students that allow them to experience a variety of musical periods, styles, instruments, and composers.

Outreach presentations have reached thousands of students in Boston and area schools since our founding in 1989. From the Fall of 2000 through the Spring of 2002, the ensemble established an outreach initiative with the Charles Taylor Elementary School in Dorchester. Entitled Composer of the Month, the program provided in-class readings about composers’ lives as well as performances by the ensemble. Since 2006, similar programs have been brought to the Trotter School, the Everett School, the Lucy Stone School, all in Dorchester, the Mather School in Roxbury, and the J. F. K. School in Jamaica Plain.

On May 18, 2015, MOPR visited the fourth graders at the J.F.K School in Jamaica Plain for a musical presentation. The demonstration focused on the physics of sound production on flute and string instruments along with discovery and discussion about emotional content in music. Through selections of music by Mozart and Wranitzky, the attendees learned to listen for how melodies are passed from player to player. To conclude the presentation, the ensemble performed the theme and variations movement of Mozart’s C Major flute quartet. The kids were encouraged to describe the different characters and emotions they experienced in the contrasting variations.

In the spring of 2005, the ensemble’s residency at Dartmouth College included presentations at a local elementary school and senior center, as well as masterclasses for Dartmouth students. The ensemble has also held residencies at Berwick Academy in southern Maine and Madison Park High School in Boston.

“I really liked seeing the way people move when they play…”

In an effort to encourage more children to attend series concerts, Old Post Road’s Kids Come Free program, initiated in 2004, allows children age 7 to 17 to attend most concert performances free of charge when accompanied by an adult.

In order to further broaden its educational reach to youth, the ensemble is in the process of a major website expansion, with a plan to develop educational resources on its website that will be made available for free to educators of elementary, middle school, and high school students worldwide. Resources will include curricula tools for teachers across a broad array of disciplines, including teachers of social studies, mathematics, language skills, and music, among others.

“What I liked was how each person was so dedicated to the music…”

To support the ensemble in its online multidisciplinary educational initiative, read about the ensemble’s Fund For the Future.

If you are an educator and would like to book the ensemble for a program at your school, please contact us.