A New Beginning: Boston x Atlanta
In August of 2017, Wilson Hsu and Sun-Jung Yum connected after hearing about the termination of From the Top’s Center for Development of Arts Leaders (CDAL) — a program which they both participated in and gained so much value from. In Fall 2017, they established a partnership with the Conservatory Lab Charter School (CLCS) in Dorchester, launching the first-ever session of the Greater Boston Music Outreach. They held a 10-week Teaching Residency with 10 high school musicians and 10 CLCS students.
Continuing off of this, Sun-Jung reached out to former CDAL members Mai Nguyen and Maia Alberts, who had independently been continuing to perform at the Boston Children’s Museum, to continue growing the program in the fall of 2018. Meanwhile, when Wilson left Boston to attend college in Atlanta, he replicated the program in the fall of 2019, establishing a partnership with the Benteen Elementary School.
This past summer, the Boston site and the Atlanta site have been working hand-in-hand to continue to grow and expand their reach in the United States. Today, the Boston branch has around 40 members while the Atlanta branch has around 10 members. With 3 directors at both branches, we are confident that our merger will be a monumental step for our organization.
In addition, over the past few months, we have undergone another major transition as we rebranded from the Greater Boston Music Outreach (Boston) and Virtuoso (Atlanta) to Continuo. Continuo is a term from early baroque music, describing the accompanying part that includes the bass-line and harmonies. They are the foundational support system — exactly what we hope to be to our musicians.
With funding from the From the Top Alumni Leadership Grant, we have been able to create a new website, social media presence, and marketing initiatives. This step may be the biggest transition we have gone through since 2017, and we are extremely excited for what is to come in both Boston and Atlanta.
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Keep up with our journey this year on our newest social media platforms: @continuo.music on Instagram and @continuo.mus on Facebook.
