The New Music Makers

Our unique music education programs nurture both students and teachers, promoting lifelong engagement with the arts. 

From preschoolers just beginning to find their voices to recent college graduates seeking to enter the industry as professionals, Trinity is working to build the next generation of musicians. In 2024, we invested in free programs that served over 1,300 students at Trinity Church, Trinity Commons, and at schools and after-school centers throughout New York City, providing high-quality training, performance opportunities, and mentorship that accompanies young people from childhood into adulthood. 

In addition to training students, Trinity is committed to revitalizing the field of teaching artistry, which encourages professional musicians to view teaching as essential to their artistic practice. While many New York City organizations have closed their teaching artist programs in recent years, Trinity has expanded, placing accomplished working artists in classrooms to share their expertise and love of music with students. In 2024, we also launched a teaching artist fellowship program for college students studying music education. 

By investing in both students and teachers, Trinity is helping more young New Yorkers access the benefits of music education.

Director of Music Melissa Attebury started at Trinity in 2006 as a member of Trinity Choir and a teaching artist for the youth chorister program. As a daughter of music educators, Attebury knows how music can transform a young person’s life, fostering resilience and creativity.

“For so many young people in our community, making music is a safe space and creative outlet,” said Attebury. “Those of us who have been blessed to teach and share music feel it’s our responsibility to pass it on to the next generation.”

Public School Outreach

Trinity Church provides highly interactive educational experiences to nearly 1,100 students in New York City through its music outreach program. Our student-centered philosophy of education caters to the individual goals of each community. We’ve worked with multiple neighborhood organizations to help young people experience the joy of music making. 

We specialize in providing music education in locations where access may be unavailable due to funding and resource limitations. Our work focuses on meeting the needs and goals of each individual community to create collaborative and engaging programming.

In 2024, our Music team worked closely with Trinity’s Neighborhood Support staff to identify additional communities that would benefit from music programming. Through that partnership, we added two new sites to our roster, increasing our reach by about 150 students. Both sites already had relationships with Trinity through our Philanthropies team. We also began working with an early childhood program for the first time, offering a course that uses music as a vehicle to help two-to-four-year-olds engage in creative play and develop their fine and gross motor skills.

 Trinity is now sending 13 teaching artists and two teaching fellows to 10 sites in the city. All our classes are co-taught by two expert teaching artists, and our lessons are intended for all students, regardless of their music background. 

One of our longest-running collaborations has been with the Chinese American Planning Council. For the past 12 years, Trinity has provided music classes to over 800 students a year, including instruction in songwriting, ukulele, guitar, movement, and chorus. We’ve also worked with the Henry Street Settlement, University Settlement, the Chinese Methodist Center Corporation, and the New York City Department of Education.  

Trinity Youth Chorus

Currently celebrating its 20th season, Trinity Youth Chorus brings together talented youth ages 5–18 from the five boroughs of New York City. Choristers receive individual and group training in vocal technique, music theory, sight-reading, and performance skills from a group of dedicated professionals led by Attebury and Peyton Marion, assistant director of Music Education and Outreach. 

Our 107 choristers provide musical leadership for Sunday 9am family services and offer concerts throughout the season, often performing with Trinity’s professional ensembles, including Trinity Choir.  We expanded our music education offerings at Trinity this past year by launching additional weekday choir classes for K–5 students.

Trinity Youth Chorus addressed weighty social and spiritual themes in 2024, in performances ranging from a Lenten presentation of Kim André Arnesen’s Tuvayhun, inspired by the Beatitudes; to the world premiere Number Our Days, a multimedia oratorio exploring joy in the face of loss; to Gabriel Fauré’s lyrical Requiem in D Minor, a contemplative meditation on hope; and a first-ever cameo in Trinity’s acclaimed annual presentation of Handel’s Messiah. The chorus also received its first Grammy nomination, for Best Choral Performance, in Benedict Sheehan’s oratorio Akathist, recorded alongside Trinity Choir, Downtown Voices, NOVUS, and Artefact Ensemble.

JAZZ HOUSE KiDS

Through a collaboration with JAZZ HOUSE KiDS, a New Jersey–based community arts organization, Trinity has created JAZZ HOUSE NYC, a free jazz education program open to all Trinity Youth. Part of the church’s Afterschool program, the initiative expands access to free musical training and jazz education.   

Classes at Trinity introduce students from across New York City to group ensembles, improvisation, jazz vocals, and African drumming. Students can choose saxophone, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, flute, piano, or guitar. To reduce barriers, novice learners receive loaner instruments to kickstart their study. 

During the fall 2024 semester, 139 students actively participated in JAZZ HOUSE NYC, up from about 110 in 2023. The program conducts an annual college fair to give students interested in becoming professional musicians the tools and confidence they need to pursue their goals long after leaving the JAZZ HOUSE classrooms.   

Just three years after launching, the program is already transforming students’ lives. “So far, 16 of our graduating high schoolers have gone on to study music in college,” said Trinity’s vicar, the Rev. Michael Bird. “That’s 16 lives changed forever, 16 voices the world now gets to hear through music. Our biggest hope is that all our students realize just how important their voices are and continue to share their stories and talents.”   

This article has been adapted from our 2024 Annual Report. To read the original version, please click here.