IMPACT

Lifting up The Bronx through arts and culture.

In 2017 BAE partnered with Columbia Teachers College to design a curriculum framework across all our arts education programs. The framework aligns with three recognized educational guidelines:

1. The DOE Blueprints for Teaching and Learning in the Arts provide teachers with a path to follow for developing curriculum in all arts disciplines, and provide benchmarks for what children should know, understand, and be able to do in dance, music, theater, and visual arts at critical junctures in their intellectual, physical, and emotional development.
2.  P21’s Framework for 21st Century Learning was developed with input from teachers, education experts, and business leaders to define and illustrate the skills and knowledge students need to succeed in work, life and citizenship, as well as the support systems necessary for 21st century learning outcomes. It has been used by thousands of educators and hundreds of schools in the U.S. and abroad to put 21st century skills at the center of learning.
3. The SPLC Social Justice Standards are a road map for anti-bias education at every stage of K–12 instruction. Comprised of anchor standards and age-appropriate learning outcomes, the Standards provide a common language and organizational structure educators can use to guide curriculum development and make schools more just and equitable.

Since 1976, Bronx Arts Ensemble has presented community concerts, featuring some of New York’s finest professional musicians. We now present more than 60 concerts a year, generally free of charge, at community venues throughout the Bronx.

BAE offers music as diverse as the people of the Bronx. With concerts at schools, libraries, senior centers, and cultural institutions all over the Bronx, our goal is to serve every neighborhood with beautiful and interesting musical programming to which those communities might not otherwise have access. We also aim to support established and emerging composers and artists through the presentation of new music, allowing Bronx-based artists to take risks with us.

Bronx Arts Ensemble promotes the making of music and related arts, from the student to the professional. Some outcomes observed through studies reported by the Arts Education Partnership include:

• Students demonstrated improved social skills, including more self-confidence, a strong connection to classmates and family, and improved communication skills.
• Students expressed appreciation for the variety of learning strategies they encountered, recognized the importance of visualizing content through the arts and demonstrated outside of the box problem solving through art tasks.
• A ‘language tracker’ showed improvement in English language skills and understanding across the year, at higher than expected levels of attainment.
• Students at lowest risk of high school dropout are those that chose to study the arts more intensely and have moved beyond the one-credit graduation requirement.
• The act of singing with another person serves as a form of interpersonal communication and helps to break down barriers to friendship.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) are central to the mission of BAE. We strive to make our team reflective of the diversity of the Bronx, ensuring equal opportunity and inclusion of people who have been underrepresented or denied employment.  We design our arts programs to promote our DEI core values both on the stage and in the classroom. 

Our Goals:

In The Classroom

• To continue to partner with Bronx public schools.
• To make accessible our educational programs to the large Bronx population of English Language Learners.
• To reinforce DEI in artistic content and the creative process through our educational framework.

In The Community

• We perform a broad variety of music, primarily in the neighborhoods where we teach.
• Concerts are generally offered free of charge in accessible, inclusive venues.
• Each concert season we introduce audiences to a new world music tradition.
• The music we present will be written and performed by a diverse mix of musicians.

In Our Organization

• We constantly strive to diversify our board, administration, artists and constituents.
• We provide equal opportunity for engagement and advancement of our team members.