- MUSIC FOR LIFE FOUNDATION
The Music for Life foundation was created in 2010 by Dominican violinist Aisha Syed to give back to the community in her home country Dominican Republic. Since then Aisha has brought to different countries and cultures (including the United States, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic) what she calls Music for Life’s Talk and Play, an interactive presentation with which she brings the joy of classical music through short concerts to the most needy, at hospices, orphanages, hospitals, schools and jails with a message centered on her inspiration to help others, the Lord Jesus Christ. Since 2010 The Foundation has navigated towards a more pedagogical approach and launched its first edition in 2015 of the Música con Propósito Festival in association with the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (Music with a Purpose Youth Festival) where Aisha through her musical connections and thanks to sponsors such as the British Embassy in the DR, has been able to bring Royal College of Music’s Director of Strings Mark Messenger to coach over 60 children, give masterclasses and conduct the youth orchestra since then. When the pandemic began the foundation resorted to virtual tools and hosted both in 2020 and 2021 Musical Clinics through Zoom for the children involved at the foundation’s programmes. In 2022 the Youth Festival makes a comeback, this time introducing Guildhall School of Music and Drama’s Head of Junior Department Rosie Whitfield and of course bringing back renowned pedagogue and RCM’s Director of Strings Mark Messenger along with Aisha Syed as the string teachers.