Jamie- CASA and EDCO

I am so glad that I was able to volunteer with Genuine Voices.  The kids were overall very respectful and excited to learn music from us and the Genuine Voices members were kind, encouraging, and enthusiastic.  It was great to see how much the kids appreciated us coming to teach them music and their desire for us to return.  I would love to continue volunteering next semester.

Vitti Thitivongse (CASA&EDCO)

Both places, CASA and EDCO, were a good experience for me. Even though i didn't help that much for CASA because it was about rap project and everything was settled down. just did some comments and had some talk with the kids there. It was fun. For EDCO, I liked this place. I did some jammin with one kid there and we did some improvisation. Totally great. Moreover, i think it is not only to get new experinece but also this helped me to develop my interpersonal skill and how communicate with others. Thank you

Aaron Lawson

I just got back from CASA the second time. I have realized that this is a great opportunity given to us as students to help others and really connect with people outside of our school. I personally went to EDCO and CASA. CASA was amazing because us as the students really got to interact with the kids. One of my favorite parts of going to the different locations is being able to watch how others are inspired by music and are inspired to make their own music. Being a musician its always inspiring to listen and watch others create beautiful music. Each individual is so talented and in my opinion are better than some of the modern musicians we hear and listen to today. I want to thank Genuine Voices for giving us the opportunity to work with these individuals.

Casa

Casa was such a great experience for me! I really connected with one of the kids in particular. He was playing guitar and asked me if I could show him a few things. I was more than happy to help him out and show him a few things that would help him out! We were into the same exact type of music so we obviously hit it off immediately and I taught him a few songs that he loved by Nirvana. He just wanted to know the opening intro of smells like teen spirit but then we laughed as I explained to him that the intro was basically the rest of the song structure. All of the other kids were listening to an instrumental rap beat and writing down lyrics to rap and record. We actually had a bit of a jam going towards the end of our visit at Casa. We had someone play bass and drums as I played guitar and it sounded really good! I could tell that certain kids had the natural feel for music inside them. Overall, the visit went really well despite the bad weather we had a great time and a successful lesson as well!

Emma Hern

My time at Genuine Voices was fantastic. It was so wonderful to have the chance to reach out to the community and connect through music. I thoroughly enjoyed my time working with all the kids. It was refreshing to see their excitement about music. As a musician, it is always inspiring when you are able to connect with others through the power of music. It was a great experience.

Sara Webster (CASA)

My experience with Genuine Voices has been an incredible learning experience for me. I was nervous about going at first, because I didn't know what to expect, but all of the staff and teens in the facility are great. It was amazing to see how talented the boys were and how much they truly enjoyed getting the opportunity to record their songs. As someone who wants to major in Music Education, this was a wonderful opportunity to get, and I am so glad that I can participate.

Casa

Wayne Redden

My time at Casa was truly remarkable, I've never had an experience quite like it. It was unbelievable to  have the opportunity to reach out to so many great kids with music. Getting to know a few of the kids and hear their story definitely taught me to not be so quick to judge. I wish that every student at Berklee knew about this wonderful program that Genuine Voices has! I hope to stay involved in the program in my time here. Thank you to Hannah, Krystal, Juri, and Ellen for making this all possible.