Music is Mine is Arts for Art's free Music Program for young musicians, ages 8 to 18.  During the pandemic music professionals met weekly to develop a new approach to making available to diverse underserved youth, the music of the diaspora.  In March 2021, we began offering at no cost, individualized coaching sessions on Zoom on a weekly basis.

The Creative Vision Ensemble (aka Visionary Youth Orchestra) 
In June 2021 we began hosting outdoor weekly workshops/rehearsals that culminated in a performance at the 25th Annual Vision Festival on July 24. 
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​All of this programming is Free.  

CLICK to Apply for Free Coaching and Band

Opportunities for student musicians: 

• Beginning with your enrollment, you will receive weekly one on one coaching from master musicians.
• Students will receive guidance to develop your own creative approach and help to develop their musicial technique on their instrument of choice.

When you join the Weekly Creative Vision Ensemble:

• Learn to improvise working with other young musicians as well as master musicians.
• The Ensemble will perform three or four times throughout the year with the yearend performance at Vision Festival in late June.

​Once admitted, students will be expected to demonstrate a high level of commitment to the program, regardless of skill level. This means that unexcused absences may jeopardize a student's place in the program. This will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

​"The first day I joined VYO, I was surprised that I was in a room of people who truly loved music (unlike my school mates). What I love most about VYO is the loving and encouraging environment that's been created to foster and grow us as musicians and improvisers. VYO quite literally is responsible for making me a better and more comfortable soloist."
-VYO Student.

To learn more about the Creative Vision Ensemble,
email Patricia at info@artsforart.org

Fall 2021 Events
The FREE Creative Vision Ensemble Workshops OUTDOORS 
BEGIN in person
Sunday Sept. 12, 2021 at Noon
at First Street Green Art Park (33 East 1 St, Manhattan): 
Sunday Sept. 19, at Noon
at Children's Magical Garden (129 Stanton St near Essex)
Sunday Sept. 26, at Noon
at First Street Green Art Park (33 East 1 St, Manhattan)
Sunday October 3, at Noon
at Children's Magical Garden (129 Stanton St near Essex)

First Performance
​October 9. 2021
Open Arts Outside
Saturday, October 9, 2-4pm
​Avenue B, between 8 + 9th Street
More Info
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Past Events
June 24, 2021
Vision Festival 25 Performance

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2021 Teaching Artists: William Parker, Michael T.A. Thompson, Daro Behroozi, Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez

Please Register if you are a young musician age 12 through 18.

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New York based drummer, percussionist and educator Michael TA Thompson and saxophonist, educator Daro Behroozi, vocalist Raina Sokolov Gonzalez, along with leading composer and bassist, William Parker are leading and shaping the Creative Vision Ensemble and individualized music lessons for young musicians of all levels. 

The Ensemble began as the Visionary Youth Orchestra in 2010 to pass to budding musicians the concepts of world improvised music as they discover their unique musical voice. 

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Daro Behroozi has been teaching music to young people for 12 years. He began as a volunteer with the Musical Mentors program in 2009, where he taught woodwinds and creative expression to elementary school students in Harlem for 4 years. Since then, as an original member of the internationally touring brass band Lucky Chops, he has taught master classes and led clinics with young musicians across the US and Europe.

​William Parker is a composer bassist/multi-instrumentalist improviser, educator, and author. He studied bass with Richard Davis, Art Davis, Milt Hinton, Wilbur Ware, Jimmy Garrison, and Paul West. He has recorded over 150 albums, had countless celebrated stage appearances, and helped shaped the jazz scene for both his peers and youths. In 2013, Parker received the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award in recognition of his influence and impact on the creative jazz scene over the last 40 years.

Michael T.A. Thompson

Daro Behroozi

William Parker

Raina Sokolov Gonzalez