La musique aux enfants is a unique program developed in partnership with the Montréal symphony orchestra (OSM). Since the fall of 2016, more than 30 young children from the Saint-Rémi school in Montréal-Nord have had the opportunity to discover the joys of music, in small groups or individually. And this is just the beginning.

Over the next several years researcher Nathalie Fernando and a multidisciplinary team will track these children through elementary school to study how music learning can show kids how to learn.

In addition to other positive effects, this type of experience can enhance children’s self-esteem. OSM Music Director Kent Nagano shared his own experience in this regard: “I personally had the chance to learn music at a very young age. It didn’t so much make me the conductor I am today as a person free to determine his own destiny. Offering music learning to children is to create a sense of hope and the feeling that anything is possible.”

Nathalie Fernando is a Full Professor and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Music at the Université de Montréal. She collaborated with teams from the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Medicine on developing the La Musique aux enfants program. The findings of this important study will be published in 2018.