January 11, 2021
Dear Key to Change Community:
This year, we are making some important and very needed changes to our program to ensure that students in our string studio feel valued and represented, not only within our organization, but also within the musical curriculum and repertoire. While our organization is quite diverse with students, staff, board members and guest artists representing various racial ethnicities and backgrounds, I believe that we can all benefit from more formalized practices that will bring us closer together; especially when dealing with circumstances regarding racism, political or social issues.
Over the next six months, Key to Change will work with HeARTWork Collective, an arts consulting group who specialize in anti-racism and social justice work for students and organizations. We have hired two dynamic teaching artists who will work with our string students, staff and board in various workshops on how to confront and navigate through social bias and systemic oppression, which are infused in our institutions and communities. Our goal is to educate our entire organization on what power each of us has to create a more equitable and inclusive environment for everyone we come in contact with.
I continue to be proud of the hard work that Key to Change is doing to ensure that our students become self-aware leaders who will galvanize positive change in their respective communities. While music is what binds us together, the deeper connection of fostering healthy, sustainable relationships with each other is at the core of who we are. I’m hopeful that through our training, we can restore a common purpose of unity and respect to the people we interact with and the communities in which we live.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. Quinton Morris, DMA
Executive Director & Founder
Key to Change
