Please join the Massachusetts Cultural Council at 3pm on Monday, December 1st at Artists for Humanity EpiCenter for an exciting event to launch our new creative youth development initiative and celebrate the ongoing work of our sector’s role in helping young people achieve their full potential.

The event will feature the launch of MCC’s new music initiative, SerHacer, and will feature the sneak preview of a powerful new documentary film about El Sistema in the United States. The film’s director, Jamie Bernstein, will join us to discuss the documentary, and how it continues the work of her father, the legendary Leonard Bernstein, to bring the power and joy of music to young people.

Building upon MCC’s nationally renowned YouthReach Initiative, SerHacer (To Be, To Make) is the first public program in the U.S. to support work inspired by El Sistema. Begun in Venezuela and now in dozens of countries worldwide, the El Sistema model supports ensemble music making to help children improve academic performance and develop valuable leadership skills that carry over to school, work, and life. Through grants, technical support, and services to schools and afterschool music programs, MCC will welcome our new grantees into an exciting national conversation around creative youth development.

We will also be joined by a group of state and national leaders in the arts and arts education: Bob Lynch, CEO, Americans for the Arts; Jonathan Herman, Executive Director, National Guild for Community Arts Education; Traci Slater-Rigaud, Director, National Arts & Humanities Youth Program Awards; Matt Wilson, Executive Director, MASSCreative; Susan Rodgerson, Executive Director, Artists for Humanity; state and local elected officials; leaders and young people from YouthReach programs & other education partners in the arts, humanities, and sciences.

Please RSVP by Friday, November 21st.