Project Morry youngsters from Connecticut participate in Music Ascension Program
Project Morry’s Music Ascension Program (MAP) at Morry’s Camp establishes perfect harmony between education, music and creativity for youngsters who participate in Project Morry. A residential summer camp with an educational focus, Morry’s Camp, located in Glen Spey, New York, is the anchor of Project Morry, a nonprofit, year-round youth development organization. Through MAP, boys and girls from Connecticut learn the fundamentals of music from professionals, including rhythm, dynamics, melody and harmony. Campers also have the unique opportunity to compose, rehearse, record and engineer an album containing their original music, lyrics, and artwork.
“The Music Ascension Program is based on the idea that self expression is essential to productive learning,” says Dawn Ewing, Executive Director of Project Morry. “It offers an amazing outlet for young people. Campers explore their creativity and return home with new skills, a new talent and greater self-esteem. The Music Ascension Program is a collaboration of many young people working together to create something powerful, beautiful, funny and something of which they can be proud.”
The recording studio at Morry’s Camp, built in 2000, is a creative center in which participants team up to experiment with different musical inspirations, ideas and techniques. Young people participate in a collaborative songwriting process in which every voice is heard. After writing and rehearsing their original songs, campers record their music in the studio to produce an album that captures the most spirited performances. Original albums portray the feelings, memories and future aspirations of over 300 campers, with songs about friendship, hobbies and camp. “If you’re a Morry’s Camper it’s not because you’re cool or because you’re cute. It’s because you have worked hard in school and applied your potential to everything,” sing Morry’s Camp seniors in their original song Morry’s Story.
MAP has produced more than 22 albums with new songs and original cover art by Project Morry’s talented young people. Their recordings have garnered high praise from notable professional musicians, as well as airplay on New York City radio stations. At the end of the summer, each young person takes home a copy of the album and an unforgettable experience.
Project Morry is a nonprofit, year-round youth development organization, anchored by a residential summer camp with an educational focus. The organization is dedicated to giving inner-city children enriching learning opportunities through a curriculum based on school gatherings and an intensive summer camp program. The children, for whom these experiences would not otherwise be available, benefit from a network of support and gain increased social skills, enhanced self-esteem, positive core values and a greater sense of personal responsibility. Project Morry is named in honor of Morry Stein, whose life was dedicated to the enrichment of children’s lives through the residential camp experience. For more information, log on to www.projectmorry.org.
