JAMMS (Journalism as Music, Multimedia and Songwriting)
JAMMS (Journalism as Music, Multimedia, and Songwriting) is an experiential learning program for diverse faiths, cultures, and ethnicities to discover common ground through dialogue and creative collaboration. Participants engage in facilitated discussion about culture, race, religion, and current events and their influence on self-perception and the perception of others. These conversations are the foundation for the group identifying and selecting a theme for their project.
Together, they write and record a song and produce a video that addresses an issue important to them collectively. Each program concludes with a performance and presentation of their project. Program participants gain self-confidence and strong communication and collaborative skills that help them constructively manage issues of bullying and social and cultural conflict. To date, more than 40 JAMMS songs and videos have been written and produced throughout the U.S. and Middle East. Amplified: Young Voices Rising is a brief film about the program and can be seen here.
JAMMS is produced in partnership with high schools, colleges, community organizations, religious/cultural institutions, and other non-profits, and is open to musicians and non-musicians alike. The program is lead by professional musicians, multimedia producers, and educators trained as MIC facilitators.
Amplify is a concert featuring youth musicians from local communities performing the songs written in the JAMMS program, amplifying the messages of these songs in new and powerful ways to a wider audience. Amplify also connects musician participants and audiences with youth across the globe, providing a platform to learn about their cultures and narratives.
Amplify is open to any youth musician regardless of past participation in a JAMMS program. Open call and online auditions are conducted to recruit musician participants. Amplify also provides a rare opportunity for youth participants to work with professional musicians and producers and to participate in a high caliber concert experience. Hear and see the music video of over 40 songs written and performed by MIC Participants.
Click a button below to email us about performing at Raise the MIC or hosting a concert in your community.
Click a button below to email us about performing at FODfest or hosting a concert in your community.
FODfest (Friends of Danny Festival) is Music in Common's flagship concert. FODfest honors the life of slain Wall St. Journal reporter, Daniel Pearl and features local musicians in a unique format that is part concert, part song swap, and part jam session. The unconventional format is a living demonstration of the power of music to connect people, generating a sense of community, hope, and healing and often serving as a call to action for individuals and communities to discover common ground.
FODfest is free & open to the public and takes place each October as a registered event of Daniel Pearl World Music Days.
Click the button below to email us about hosting a program in your community.
Summer JAMMS
MIC Summer JAMMS is an immersive, inter-cultural experience that brings together up to 25 Christian, Muslim, Jewish, immigrant, refugee, and American-born youth ages 15-20. An extension of Musin in Common's JAMMS programs in the U.S. and the Middle East, participants live and work together for two weeks writing, recording, and rehearsing songs for a one-week concert tour, while at the same time producing a documentary film.
Participants will write and record an original song as well as learn and rehearse 15 songs written in MIC programs around the world to perform on a weeklong concert tour. The process will be documented for a film conceived and directed by participants to demonstrate the power of diversity, inclusion, and collaboration and their benefits to society. Participants will create written, video, and photo blogs to be posted on social media and the Music in Common website throughout the program.
The Summer JAMMS Program strengthens mindful communication, cross-cultural understanding, and critical thinking between participants with interfaith dialogues, leadership trainings, intercultural workshops, social activities, and field trips to explore the arts, culture, and natural beauty of the surrounding area.
