February 27, 2009, We at Feel the Music! are absolutely overjoyed that Archbishop Riordan High School has chosen Feel the Music! to be the beneficiary of proceeds raised at performances of "Back to the 80's...the Totally Awesome Musical!".

Performances take place March 27 - April 5, 2009 at the Lindland Theatre in San Francisco. Tremendous thanks to Drama Department Chair and Director Valerie O'Riordan for making this happen! Please visit Riordan High School's website to purchase tickets and for more info!

Feel the Music! Frog Project Bookmarks Available!

Nov 27, 2007, Beautiful full colour bookmarks with a picture of the handpainted frogs now available! Download PDF!

Support the Feel the Music! Frog Project by purchasing bookmarks to hand out at your school or workplace! contact Lucia at lucia@musicandhealing.org to order.

Feel the Music! Frog Project Reaches Out to Families in Spain and New Orleans

Oct 5, 2007, The frog is an unlikely symbol of recovery, resilience and compassion. Yet for families who lost loved ones on September 11th, in the 2004 Madrid bombings, and for families left devastated by Hurricane Katrina, the humble frog became a gentle reminder that others "care about us and share our sorrow."

Thanks to the Feel the Music! ‘Frog Project’, families who lost a loved one on September 11th hand-painted over one hundred percussion frogs, in the hopes of connecting families in different countries and regions experiencing similar losses and grief. About half of the frogs were sent earlier this year to "Asociacion 11-M" in Madrid, to be delivered to children affected by the 2004 train bombings (see below for more info). The remaining frogs were sent to childcare centers in New Orleans through "We Care New Orleans”.

The response to these tiny gifts was truly overwhelming. During the weeks Feel the Music! families worked on painting and decorating the frogs, many discussions arose about loss and recovery and the wish to give to others in similar circumstances. No one expected that these gifts would trigger a domino effect of children of one disaster helping children of another disaster. Yet when the frogs arrived in Madrid, children there responded by wanting to “create something for our friends in New York.” When the frogs arrived in New Orleans, teachers there were inspired to expand 'The Frog Project' and plan to decorate and send frogs to tsunami victims in the Pacific, and to children more recently affected by the 2007 California wildfires in San Diego and Los Angeles.

The Frog Project continues to grow, with plans to decorate another set of frogs in 2008. Sponsor a frog and bring a smile to a child's face!

Four Feel the Music! films receive 7 awards at RECYouth Multimedia Festival
Aug 24, 2007, Four films made by Feel the Music! students received SEVEN AWARDS last night at the 4th Annual RECYouth Multimedia Festival!

Award Recipients are:

BEST SCREENPLAY: THE LETTER
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: THE LETTER
BEST TV SHOW: FOOD LUST
BEST ACTOR (3 way tie): MONSTER IN MY CLOSET
BEST NARRATIVE: MONSTER IN MY CLOSET
BEST DOCUMENTARY: EDUCATING CATTLE
BEST EDITING: EDUCATING CATTLE

And also shown at the festival last night:
THE BOOK

The above films were made by teens in the Feel the Music! program, in collaboration with the RECYouth program of the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation and Tuesday's Children. The five films represent work of Feel the Music! video students collaborating over the past year and were shown to a packed house August 23rd at the prestigious Directors Guild Theatre, along with 16 other films and trailers made by youth city-wide.

Feel the Music!, Tuesday's Children and RECYouth extend their heartfelt congratulations to all award nominees and invite teens 13-19 to sign up for the 2007 fall video workshops - you never know, your film could end up winning an award at the 2008 RECYouth Festival!!

The Discovery Education Network features Feel the Music!
May 30, 2007, a new educational DVD, created by The Discovery Education Network in 2007, includes a beautiful and moving 10 minute segment about the Feel the Music! program and the teen outreach group, Hope to Cope. This educational DVD was sent to teachers and schools all over the country. Watch this space, the whole segment will be online soon!

Feel the Music! in the Red Cross 125th Anniversary Annual Report

Feel the Music! and WFMH are honored to be featured with a beautiful photo on pages 22-23 of the Red Cross 125th Anniversary Annual Report 2006. Photo by Valerie Ghent.

Feel the Music! families outreach to Madrid families affected by the 2004 train bombings in Spain
May 29, 2007, families in Feel the Music! handpainted 170 percussion frogs in the spring of 2007, and WFMH sent them to families in Madrid, Spain. The remainder of the percussion frogs will soon be sent to child care centers in the New Orleans area.

Feel the Music! and Hope to Cope on CBS Early Show with Katie Couric. September 9, 2006, Hope to Cope and Feel the Music! are a featured story on the CBS Early Show with Katie Couric, including footage from the recording session, how the song 'came to be' and more! click here to see the news segment!

Feel the Music! Summer Video Workshop - Film Screening September 5, 2006, the Feel the Music!/RECYouth summer video workshop held a screening of their first film, "Food Lust". This 17 minute film explores three 'favorite foods' in a hilariously funny 'love poem to New York'. Made in only six weeks while simultaneously learning the equipment and computer programs, the participants planned, filmed and edited "Food Lust" themselves.

RECYouth Video Award for Best Editing goes to Feel the Music! participant On August 24, 2006, one of our Feel the Music! participants won the Best Editing award from the NYC Parks RECYouth Board for his video, "Sunscreen". The film festival was held at the Cleaview Cinema on 23rd Street, New York. For festival photos and to see the video, go to RECYOUTH Multimedia Festival 2006. Congratulations!

Feel the Music! and Hope to Cope record "Fight" On August 12, 2006, Feel the Music! went back into the Manhattan Center recording studio with the teen outreach group, Hope to Cope, to mix their song "Fight". "Fight" was written in a Feel the Music! songwriting workshop earlier this spring, with faculty members Mary Lee Kortes and Valerie Ghent. We also recorded a second song, a ballad called "You'll Be OK", recently written by a member of Hope to Cope. Both songs and photos from the recording session are available on the Hope to Cope journaling website.

Feel the Music! recording session at Jazz at Lincoln Center with Arturo O'Farrill June 17, 2006: The Feel the Music! Jazz ensemble recorded at XM Radio/Jazz at Lincoln Center studios with the renowned pianist Arturo O'Farrill. The ensemble recorded four songs: two original compositions and two standards.

Feel the Music! is the recipient of a grant from the ASCAP Foundation Irving Caesar Fund for a dedicated songwriting workshop, featuring special guests and a chance to go to a NYC recording studio to record songs. Call for more info!

Feel the Music! has partnered with NYC's RecYouth Program to offer video and audio production workshops for teens. Learn the skills to become a digital storyteller and filmmaker. Space will be extremely limited. Register early to ensure your place.

Other news:
Feel the Music! donated a piano to the WTC Family Center in January, 2006, to further support and facilitate music lessons and workshops.

The Feel the Music! free music workshops working schedule
(December 12, 2005, New York, NY)—Feel the Music! free music workshops for children and teens directly affected by September 11th have been a huge hit with family members. Workshop available for: the five boroughs - Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, the Bronx and Manhattan; Long Island - Rockville Centre, Manhassett, Nassau County Museum of Art; and Weekend Retreats in Shelter Island and Rockland County! Read full article

‘Feel the Music’ Program - NYU Today, on the web
(October 24, 2005, New York, NY)—More than 30 children from the tri-state area recently attended the first session of the Feel the Music! program, which offers free workshops to children coping with personal losses suffered on September 11, 2001. Read full article

WFMH launches "Feel the Music!"
(September 23, 2005, New York, NY)—A gathering of renowned professional musicians will spend the afternoon this Sunday, September 25, 2005 from 1 pm to 4 pm helping the children and teenagers of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks Feel the Music! Read full article
download the PDF

September 11th Families' Association Newsletter
Feel the Music! is an interactive music program offering music workshops in songwriting, percussion, singing, jazz and a variety of concerts. The workshops are designed to be fun and inspiring and are taught by renowned professional musicians who love teaching. Read full article