Music for All

History of Music for All

The seeds of Music for All were planted in 1985, when Jon Engberg, then Associate Director of the Eastman School of Music, proposed an “audience-building project” which would include a new and radical undergraduate requirement: that each student develop and be involved in a project, “the intent of which would be to initiate or foster an interest in music in an audience…which does not normally attend concerts.” The presentation was to be held somewhere outside the confines of Eastman where concerts are not normally held, and would have “as a significant element discussion by the presenter about the music, the instrument(s), the performers, the composer, etc.” Ten years later, a pilot project was officially in place, directed by Concert Manager Andy Green and Professor of Harp Kathleen Bride.

Dubbed Music for All, a name suggested by Viola Professor John Graham, the program initially recruited eight student volunteer chamber music groups to perform locally at a school or community site. Since then, the program has grown steadily to its current size and scope.