User:CuatroPuntosCT/sandbox

= Cuatro Puntos = Cuatro Puntos is non-profit organization based in Hartford, Connecticut that currently consists of the Music Moves Hartford program for those who have experienced homelessness in Hartford, Cuatro Puntos Chamber Ensemble (resident musicians), arts integration workshops in schools, intercultural recording projects, and various guest artists.

Cuatro puntos works in close partnership with Müzikhane Social Music School, a program of Her Yerde Sanat Derneği in Southeastern Turkey that serves vulnerable and refugee children, and where Cuatro Puntos' Executive Director also serves as a teacher and program co-director. They are also known to value partnerships with other organizations and individuals with a similar mission, both near and far. Past collaborations include the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, AFCECO Orphanage music program in Kabul, an El Sistema Program in Tarija, Bolivia, and the American School for the Deaf. Everything we do must closely align with our mission statement: Cuatro Puntos is dedicated to intercultural dialogue and universal access through the performance, writing, and teaching of music. The structure of the organization of Cuatro Puntos is an executive director, a Board of Directors, a "Music Moves Hartford" artistic director, a core of six resident musicians, and an ever-growing list of volunteers and community partners.

2012: Founding and early years
Cuatro Puntos was founded in 2012 when it sent a group of resident musicians to Bolivia to volunteer at a rural “El Sistema” style music school. Cuatro Puntos was founded to foster cross-cultural projects between differing New England communities, and between New England and the outside world. Our visits and dialogue with the Bolivian music school ignited our passion, and Cuatro Puntos began giving concerts and doing school workshops in Connecticut while searching for other ways to bridge cultural gaps. 2013 began our relationship with the Afghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul, which continues to yield school workshops, concerts, and cultural exchanges in Connecticut. Members of Cuatro Puntos traveled to Afghanistan to teach, record, and write down Afghan music, which included several summer visits and a one year residency. This yielded a collaborative album between Cuatro Puntos and the music students in Afghanistan titled The Rosegarden of Light. ​

2012-2015
Cuatro Puntos has maintained a regular concert series in Glastonbury since 2012, and in 2015 began a parallel series in downtown Hartford at Christ Church Cathedral. Cuatro Puntos works with schools around the state, and currently partners with Hartford Performs to bring Afghanistan-related workshops to Hartford public schools. In 2014, “Chamber Music for Peace” was launched in Hartford, which consisted of annual workshops of 4-weeks length where local music students learned how to engage and connect their community through music. 2017 launched our journey into music making and enjoyment by the Deaf, starting a journey into exploring accessibility which included a partnership with the American School for the Deaf and opened numerous doors for bridging Deaf and hearing audiences. This resulted in such things as a performance and panel discussion at Teacher's College of Columbia University, and workshop with/performances for deaf students.

Present Date
Currently Cuatro Puntos works with Müzikhane Social Music School, a program under Her Yerde Sanat Derneği (Art Anywhere Association) in Southeastern Turkey along the Syrian border. Serving an area emerging from conflict, this provides music education aimed at social well being to vulnerable children from all sides of the nearby Turkish/Iraqi/Syrian border.

Music Moves Hartford
Music Moves Hartford is a joint collaboration between Cuatro Puntos and Christ Church Cathedral to get downtown Hartford residents making music and filling streets, buildings, churches, and public spaces with their voices and talents. We hold ongoing music making meetings at a soup kitchen and at a transitional shelter, as well as holding pop-up events and performances around downtown.

Classroom Teaching Artists
Curriculum-aligned, arts integration workshops in public schools.

Key people
• Kevin Bishop has been the Executive Director of Cuatro Puntos since 2012, he has a varied career as a violist, violinist, conductor, composer, educator, and arts administrator.

Collaborations
Notable artistic guests include Iranian composer Dr. Reza Vali; British/Australian composer Dr. Sadie Harrison; composer & violinist Dr. Eden Macadam-Somer; singer & workshop leader Alika Hope and many others.