Music is one of the most precious gifts we can give our children, who are, after all, our future dreamers, doers and decision makers. Originated in 2010, NMSO’s partnership in the Carnegie Hall Link Up Education Program has provided critical cultural and intellectual enrichment for thousands of students in the region. Link Up allows students to be embedded in the orchestra, to study and understand the structure and process of the orchestra; they also learn to sing songs in English, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese, as well as to play the recorder and to understand rhythm and movement.

The yearly program culminates in a concert which allows the students to join with the orchestra in performance by singing along or playing the violin or recorder from their seats in the audience. In addition to musical accomplishment, Link Up facilitates student skills in self-analysis and self-assessment, which, along with the ability to cooperate “harmoniously” in every sense, are important not only to student development but also to long-term career success in a global market that requires collaboration and an agile skillset. Since 2010, Link Up has expanded to serve Pontotoc, Fulton and New Albany, while students from Oxford and Cleveland have also participated.