Sarasa Ensemble has been very proud to have received grant funding from the National Endowment for the Arts’ Challenge America program to fund our Music Unlocked program in Massachusetts Department of Youth Services facilities. Our first year of the grant allowed us to create a robust program of Residencies and Presentations from summer 2024 through these last few weeks of our 2024-25 Concert Season. The second year of funding, offered to us on December 13, 2024, was set to fund more programs starting in June 2025. The NEA has now withdrawn its offer.

Please read below our Letter of Appeal to the NEA. We so appreciate your support, and will strive to continue our crucial programming in DYS facilities with the incarcerated teens who greatly need the opportunity to grow and express their creative voice.

“Elevate the Nation's HBCUs and Hispanic Serving Institutions,” “support Tribal communities, and support the economic development of Asian American communities.” Sarasa Ensemble is dedicated to serving disadvantaged youth from diverse backgrounds; the teens we meet in DYS lock-up facilities are largely from black, latino, or other minority communities. They come from socially and financially disadvantaged homes, and often have not been able to imagine for themselves a successful future outside gangs and violence. Our music programming gives each teen the opportunity to express themselves, develop trust in each other, and co-create something special. These programs provide hope and help prevent teens from returning to drugs and gang violence, instead encouraging community-building and creative expression. As a staff member recently told us, ““The Sarasa presentation was very good. I think it helps teenagers (such as ours) broaden their perspective on music which helps/introduces them to broaden their take on life.”

“Make America healthy again.” The incarcerated youth Sarasa meets in our Music Unlocked programming suffer from both physical and mental trauma, often related to gang violence and troubled circumstances. We facilitate a platform for the teens to find their own voices within their isolation and, through this music, inspire them towards belief in a better future. A teen participant outlined our goal well: “I like our performances because it brought us closer together and brought out our talents. It helped us feel for each other more and understand what each one of us was going through. It helped us with our self-esteem and showed us that if you give it your all w/o caring what others think, in the end, others will think even better of you. It gave kids confidence and helped them feel as if they were the center of attention even if it was for only 5 min. at a time; it gave kids hope…It also brought out our thinking abilities, and how we think, whether we think alike or not.” Sarasa’s Music Unlocked programming fosters self-confidence, empathy, and healing through music.

“Celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence.” Sarasa Ensemble will present a 250th anniversary public concert program, “@1775: Boston, London, Paris and Vienna” to audiences in Watertown and Lexington in September 2025. We have planned to bring this music, inspired by the Founding Fathers and pieces they may have heard in various capital cities around the time of the Revolution, to our Music Unlocked program participants. We will share with the teens–most of whom have never heard live classical music, let alone pieces from the time of the American Revolution–works by beloved American composer William Billings alongside JC Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and others. We strive to connect early music with the present for public concert attendees and incarcerated teens, and will proudly perform this “@1775” program at our Music Unlocked Presentations and Residencies as an immersive history experience.