Still Making Music, Changing Lives
#50Voicesfor50Years: Community invited to share SSC memories and photos
South Shore Conservatory (SSC) today announced it will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2020, beginning with its signature Chase Away the Winter Blues gala on January 25, 2020. Students, families, alumni and friends are invited to participate in performances, tributes and special events that will take place throughout the milestone year.
The largest community school for the arts in Massachusetts, SSC was incorporated in 1970 in Hingham, after previously serving as a New England Conservatory satellite preparatory program. The longstanding nonprofit has grown from 15 faculty members and 100 students to 100 faculty members and more than 4,500 students from Cape Cod to Bellingham, with campuses in Hingham and Duxbury, and a satellite location in Hanover. Over the past decade in particular, SSC has experienced record growth, expanding its programs and increasing access to music and the arts with the addition of Jazz/Rock/Pop programs, a youth orchestra and chorus, a full roster of early childhood programs, a Creative Arts Therapies Department that reaches more than 500 residents of all ages with developmental and emotional challenges, ImagineARTS program, which serves more than 750 kindergarteners in Brockton public schools, and programs in partnership with senior centers across the South Shore.
“It’s amazing to think back to our humble beginnings in the Parish House of Old Ship Church in Hingham,” said SSC President Kathy Czerny. “I’m not sure that our founders could have envisioned the SSC of today, but the core of our work – our commitment to providing access and lifelong engagement in music and the arts – remains the same. We’re very excited to mark our 50th year with a series of special events and hope the community will join us in sharing stories from the past and creating new memories throughout the year.”
SSC’s 50th Anniversary Events in 2020
Events to celebrate SSC’s 50th include Chase Away the Winter Blues on Saturday, January 25; Music and the Brain Symposium on Saturday, March 28; a special Evenings Under the Stars Alumni Performance on Saturday, July 25. There will also be events to honor beloved founding members and faculty; a retirement celebration for President Czerny will take place on Saturday, August 1.
To learn more about Chase Away the Winter Blues or to purchase tickets, visit https://sscmusic.org/blues/. To learn more about anniversary programs and events, and receive updates, sign up at https://sscmusic.org/contact-us/, visit sscmusic.org and like SSC on Facebook.
#50Voicesfor50Years: Share your SSC memories and photos
SSC is asking those who have been part of the SSC story to share your memories and photos. Whether you took part in the original preschool program, sang in Opera by the Bay’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, took Musical Theatre Workshop with retired drama director Ellen Kelly, schlepped your tuba into the bunkers at Bare Cove Park for Summer Wind Ensemble in the 80’s, or have other amazing memories from your time at SSC, we want to hear from you! Please visit https://sscmusic.org/alumni/ to participate.
About South Shore Conservatory
Celebrating 50 years in 2020, South Shore Conservatory (SSC) is committed to providing access to music and the arts for South Shore residents. Recognized as a national model for arts education by the National Guild for Community Arts Education, SSC is the largest, nonprofit community school for the arts in Massachusetts, serving more than 4,500 students of all ages at two beautiful campuses in Duxbury and Hingham, and a new satellite location at Laura’s Center for the Arts in Hanover. Students participate in more than 50 diverse programs in music, dance and drama. With more than 100 exceptional musicians on faculty, SSC offers over 200 professionally produced concerts and performances annually. Through innovative partnerships with schools, social services and community agencies throughout the South Shore, SSC brings music and the arts out to the community to enrich the lives of residents. A third campus in Hanover for its Creative Arts Therapies is scheduled to open in the summer of 2020, offering the benefits of music and the arts to people with developmental and emotional challenges. For more information, visit https://sscmusic.org/.
In keeping with SSC’s inclusive mission to provide access to quality education in the arts for all, the Conservatory offers programs for all segments of the population to enjoy, regardless of age, ability, geography, and financial means. Furthermore, South Shore Conservatory admits students and families of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school.
