LYNN — Beats and rhymes filled the air at Building Bridges Through Music’s stage room Wednesday night as members of the summer program showed off what they learned through song in a performance titled “It’s a Hip Hop World”.
The Building Bridges Through Music Summer program runs for six weeks during the summer at the organization’s location on Euclid Avenue. It allows students ages 5 to 13 to work with musical directors who teach them to play instruments and sing, while also engaging in literary activities.
“Some of these kids who have never been introduced to music, and it’s a brand new skill for them, just their willingness to not give up when it gets a little bit difficult… it’s a testament to their ability to push through whatever circumstances or conditions that they’re currently living in,” Building Bridges’ Marketing and Communications Director Mikeal Brown said.
Doreen Murray, the artistic programs director, said every year the summer program centers around a theme. This year, she and her peers decided to look back on the past 50 years of hip hop.
Murray said the students did a lot of reading and studying about the artists whose songs they performed. Murray added the students were taught “functional” music theory, meaning they teach it in “a way that no one is going to get bored.”
“It has been an incredible six weeks. Six weeks in the summer program goes by like the speed of light,” Murray said.
Brendon Cruz, a peer mentor to the students and a student in the program prior, said helping create the summer performance was a great experience.
He added going through the program “ teaches you just the moral principles in life, and teaches you how to go about things the right way, and just how to live as a good person.”
At the start of the performance, Cruz led the students in a pledge that focused on strong morals, including ensuring they are affirming others, avoiding “uncaring criticism and self destructive behavior,” and communicating their feelings honestly.
Jaryn, age 12, led all the students in the singing of the song “Think Big,” which Murray described as a tradition for the program.
The lyrics of the song encourage students and the audience to pursue their highest goals. “If I’m going to think, why not think big?”
Jaryn said when he becomes too old to be a student of the program, he hopes to become a mentor, like Cruz.
He said when he started the program, he didn’t know how to play any instruments, but he now knows how to play the drums and the piano.
“I’m grateful that I met so many new friends here,” Jaryn said.
Gina Cordy, a mother of two students in the program, Aniya and Maurice, said she was appreciative of the Building Bridges organization because “music isn’t alive in a lot of the schools as it used to be.”
“A lot of times, kids don’t know what they want to play, so giving them exposure to different musical instruments kind of allows them to think about, explore before actually committing to something,” she said.
