Boston City Singers was founded in the spring of 1995 as the Dorchester-based satellite of Youth pro Musica to provide outstanding opportunities for inner-city youth in the neighborhoods in which they live. We are looking forward to our 27th season.
We continue to adjust our educational methods to engage our membership. The 2021-2021 school year will be devoted to rebuilding our membership that was adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our dedication to serving metro BostonÕs low-income and otherwise marginalized families has resulted in steady membership growth pre-COVID, from 25 students aged 7 – 9 in FY95 to 500 singers aged 4 – 18 in 2020. Prior to March 2020, we held 14 weekly school-year programs in Dorchester, Jamaica Plain and North Cambridge.
Our mission is to provide the highest level of musical training and performance opportunities to young people starting at age four until high school graduation. Our programs inspire personal journeys, celebrate diversity, and foster goodwill. Our strength lies in our commitment to social justice and our acceptance of differences across age, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, ability, gender, and gender preference. We welcome singers from any background, and connect them and their families to wrap-around services ensuring that each is on a path to success. We teach job readiness skills, support college application processes and engage them as team members.
One hundred percent of our graduates have been accepted at four-year colleges for 13 consecutive years. Ninety-five percent graduate from college on time. Over 250 alumni are community activists, teachers, social workers, artists, actors, musicians, engineers, military personnel, and finance, marketing and medical professionals. Alumni serve on our Board of Directors and as singersÕ advisers, career counselors, and college application mentors.
