Parsippany Music Program Fills An Artistic Void

PARSIPPANY, NJ—Dreamality, a Parsippany-based nonprofit, has had to reinvent its approach to providing music classes to underfunded public school arts programs after the coronavirus pandemic ruled out in-person classes last spring.

"We have had to adapt, for sure," said co-founder Quincy Patrick, a Grammy-winning producer. "We still had to figure out a way to reach the kids, because our students need this."

According to the U.S. Government, students with high arts participation and low economic status have a four percent dropout rate—five times lower than their low socioeconomic status peers. What's more, according to the same data, low-income students who are highly engaged in the arts are twice as likely to graduate college as their peers with no arts education.

When the pandemic began, Patrick and his co-founder, Jini Ettigi, a recording artist, began to map out a plan to keep engaging with students, even if they couldn't' be there in person. They had success teaching virtually via Zoom, but soon had to make tough decisions that they worried would affect their students, who come primarily from low-income backgrounds.

"We run a summer camp every year," Ettigi said, "of course, we weren't able to do that. Our annual concert is held at Drew University, but this year we held it virtually."

The concert signaled a silver lining for Dreamality, as Ettigi said their reach has extended now that they're all virtual.

"At one point, we had about 300 people watching," Ettigi said. "We showcased 50 children performing piano and voice. We also had the kids singing We Are The World, and it was such a hit. The YouTube traffic just spiked. It was such an opportunity to go viral and take this to the next level through technology."

Ettigi added that she now has virtual students from as far away as Washington, D.C. and London, but Dreamality exists firs to benefit local communities, like the one where Patrick was raised.

"Music and art was very important to me when I was growing up," said Patrick, who has spent three decades working in the music industry. "Hearing those schools don't have those programs anymore led me to get involved."

Ettigi said there is another, more local, benefit to going virtual: family engagement.

"Before, parents would just drop students off at the center," she said, "but now, since they're all together at home, whole families get involved on Zoom."

Ettigi added that she and Patrick try to make the program as interactive as possible, and the students enjoy using the chat feature during lessons, especially the emojis. She added that Dreamality is focusing on after school programs, as that's where there's a void now.

Patrick said that, even though he's worked with some of the top artists in the music industry, he works with Dreamality's students for one major reason.

"I was raised that you give back," he said. "I had a chance and became successful. What about those kids back there now? They might not get the opportunity that I had."