NOI+F Partners with Sound Impact to Create Artistic Oasis for Incarcerated Youth

The University of Maryland’s National Orchestral Institute + Festival (NOI+F) announces a new partnership with Sound Impact (SI), a collective of musicians dedicated to igniting personal transformation of individuals in underserved communities. NOI+F and SI will collaborate in Summer 2019 to guide NOI+F Sphinx Fellowship Ensemble Adelphi Quartet in the curation of an educational residency in Washington DC’s Youth Services Center at the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services.

Photo Courtesy of Sound Impact

Sound Impact and the Adelphi Quartet will co-create a socially relevant curriculum that empowers incarcerated teenagers to find healthy channels to express their voices and expand their perspectives. This community-centered residency, “Use Your Voice,” will focus on self-expression and teamwork through a combination of interactive performances of classical, contemporary and popular music paired with writing exercises and collaborative activities.

Photo Courtesy of Sound Impact

Founded in 2013, SI believes that music engagement is a vehicle to empower individuals to expand their perspectives, connect individuals of diverse ages and backgrounds and engage people with new experiences. SI’s various educational programs have reached thousand sof young adults in schools throughout the US and Costa Rica, and have served incarcerated youth in California, New Mexico and Washington, DC.

Formed in 2017 by cellist and Sphinx Orchestral Futurist Fellow Marza Wilks, the Adelphi Quartet was born from a dream of having a string quartet made up of underrepresented minorities with exceptional talent aimed to inspire and transform lives through the power of classical music. The Adelphi Quartet has given dozens of recitals throughout the DC area, has been named Quartet in Residence at NOI+F, and has run educational programming in over 15 different schools.