Quicksilver Productions Foundation
Music in Schools
Presents
Your SONG
In DC Schools
In 2024, Quicksilver Productions Foundation Music in Schools invited songwriting program Your Song to DC schools to promote our mission of making the world a more equitable place by building community through music, education and conversation. Your Song songwriters worked with students of Maury Elementary, Eliot-Hine Middle School, and Capitol Hill Day School, and created several songs, written and performed by students.
Your Song is a collaborative songwriting program that connects performing arts centers, musicians, and artists with vulnerable communities to promote healing and community connectedness. Your Song is a Nashville based non-profit founded by the award winning songwriter and licensed music therapist Kyshona Armstrong.
We would like to thank Hill Center for their sponsorship and providing a space for the Your Song students.
The Process
Your Song songwriters facilitated a song writing session for each group of students drawing from real life experiences centered around self esteem, positivity, growth and overcoming fears. With guidance from Your Song, students journaled ideas, brainstormed topics and imagery, and collaborated to write lyrics together to tell their story. After finding a melody, students added harmonies, experimented with rhythm and even added bridges to create a song - or seven!!
Capitol Hill Day School:
Check out Capitol Hill Day School 5th graders working with Kyshona Armstrong to collaboratively write their song “I’m a Light”. It was an incredible process to watch, to see a song come into being over the course of a day. “I’m a Light” is infectious! Click play to see for yourself.
CHDS 5th graders record “I’m a Light” after perfecting the song’s bridge and harmonies. Play through to end to hear their JOY when they finished!
Maury Elementary School:
Here are pics from Maury Elementary 4th graders writing sessions with Your Song team members Zack Smith, Crys Matthews and Kyshona. Amazing to witness the talented Your Song songwriters create the space for almost 100 students to write and then perform 3 songs in one day. The kids were so engaged and loved seeing each other’s groups perform their songs at the end of the day. Click play to hear “The Shine in Life”, “Food Parade” and “Perfect Day”. We love them all!
Crys’ group rehearses “Perfect Day” all the way through before they perform for their classmates.
Eliot-Hine Middle School:
Music students at Eliot-Hine worked with Your Song writers Zach, Crys and Kyshona to compose, rehearse and perform 3 powerful songs.
Kyshona, Crys and Zack did a “songwriter’s in the round” for music students at Eliot-Hine, showing them how different imagery is used, different sounds are employed and how stories are told through song. Here Kyshona performs her legacy song “Whisper in the Walls” getting the kids revved up for their day of songwriting!
THE RESULT
Guided by the expertise of Your Song songwriters, in the course of 3 days, over 150 students wrote 7 songs from scratch! At the end of each songwriting session Your Song staff recorded the songs with the students as they performed their final product. Later, Your Song staff mixed the tracks that are now featured on Your Songs of 2024. You can listen to all 7 songs created with the Quicksilver Productions Foundation Music in Schools Program here and on SoundCloud. Please enjoy!
What People Are Saying
"The teachers sent home videos and all the kids are singing...like all the words. It was one of his best field trips. Thank you for creating it!!"
— Kendall, mom of a Maury 4th grader
"Please let her know that the students were deeply impacted by her and the experience. I’m so grateful!"
— Ms Jean, Eliot Hine music teacher
"What a great song! My daughter was super happy about it!"
— Adrian, dad to a Maury 4th grader
"I’m a light is stuck in my head!!!! I love it!"
— Reeb, professional song writer and musician
"Such a cool thing you are doing. It is so important!!!!"
— Caleb, professional song writer and musician
"I just heard a fifth grader say to a classmate who was absent on Monday, 'You missed out on the best field trip we’ve ever had!' Thanks so much for making that happen!! "
— Shelly, Capitol Hill Day School drama teacher
"Can I tell you how much I love the lyrics and the song?!?!! I can’t believe that they composed and arranged it in a day!! This song is my new bop!! "
— Latreece, mom of a Capitol Hill Day School 5th grader
"Okay that is a genuine HIT! These flames don’t play no games!"
— Kaia, professional songwriter and musician
