A chorus of children’s voices filled the Hancock St. John’s Learning Center in North Philadelphia on a Friday night in June as students involved in the Hear Our Voices music therapy program celebrated their CD release party.

In call-and-response form, the group members — who call themselves “The Golden Angels” — sang the lyrics to a song dedicated to Barack Obama as their parents, family members and friends listened and cheered them on.

When the 14-week program began this spring, some of the children were shy about participating in the after-school song-writing sessions. But by the evening of the CD release party, they were confident and ready to share their newly honed talent with an enthusiastic audience. Such a transformation is common when children are given an opportunity express themselves in a supportive environment, said Joke Bradt, assistant director of the Arts and Quality of Life Program.

“Through the creative process, they come away with very important life lessons,” said Bradt. “But it doesn’t happen because of adults preaching or telling them what to do. It happens in a very creative and fun way — they discover themselves through the creative process.”

The program, which is offered through Arts at Your Side, the community service initiative of Temple’s Arts and Quality of Life Research Center, allows children to express their feelings through song. They experiment with forms of music ranging from R&B to Blues and develop lyrics that express their hopes, dreams and fears.

Over time the group learns to better handle everyday interactions as the program presents them with opportunities to deal with conflict resolution and disagreements in a positive way, music therapist Mike Viega said.

“You see this group become cohesive, working together, helping each other out — they gel and form into a real group,” Viega said. “And then there are those who come in and are the shyest that turn out to be very expressive. The change is amazing to watch.”

The program runs every fall and will be offered to high school students beginning in September. Organizers are currently working to offer the program at schools across the city.

“We believe that these kids have a lot of inner wisdom,” said Bradt. “We are just amazed at the things that they say without shame, without hesitation, without censorship. To learn through this program they learn to trust that and know that they can do anything.” 

Arts at Your Side is designed to engage underserved residents of the Philadelphia region to positively influence their lives and improve well-being.  For more information on programs offered through the Arts and Quality of Life Center visit www.temple.edu/boyer/ResearchCenter.