Founder
Nyc, Puerto Rico, And Beyond
Sonic Arts for All! (SAFA!) is a new non-profit organization that promotes the hands-on, creative use of music technology in the academic, after-school, community center, and non-traditional classroom settings. We work primarily with elementary, middle, and high school students in NYC, but others are welcome too. SAFA! is the first of its kind: a mobile educational recording studio and music technology workspace. By outfitting a mobile van with state of the art equipment and teaching artists able to facilitate after school classes and workshops in all five boroughs, our goal is to reach all of New York City’s kids and other creative artists, regardless of neighborhood or economic background.Our mission is to provide a rigorous - and fun - alternative to traditional school-based music programs. Our curriculum combines “the fundamentals” - for example, music theory, ear training, and keyboard skills - with the creative innovations coming from the DJ and electronic music scene. SAFA! will bridge the gap between the popularity of electronic music and more traditional music pedagogy. We know from our own experience that it is possible to learn the theory and counterpoint of Bach from pop music, the rhythmic dictation and arrangement of jazz from an instrumental hip-hop record, or modernist classical and improvisatory performance technique from trance and ambient music – and to build the foundation for college-level music studies in the process. It requires the right facilities, faculty, and curriculum to create this knowledge together, in a safe, hands-on learning environment.