Sweet Fairy Tale

A MUSICAL INITIATIVE TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ON THE DANGERS OF ADDED SUGAR AND HEALTHY NUTRITION

In the United States today, 13 million children suffer from childhood obesity.

This current generation of children is predicted to have a lower life expectancy than their parents. In Boston, 39.8% of children aged 11-17 are overweight or obese compared to the 28.5% of children in Massachusetts and the 29.9% of children Nationwide.

Research suggests that nutrition instruction can be improved through: A) Use of active learning strategies, B) Ways to integrate nutrition lessons into other subjects, and C) Ways to involve families in nutrition education.  

We believe that music can effectively make use of these improvements.

EChO – Eradicate Childhood Obesity Foundation

EChO aims to provide health education, research, and access to nutrition care services, particularly to underserved communities and youth.  Visit www.echoforgood.org for more details.

Check out this TED Talk with EChO Foundation President, Laurent Adamowicz

Our community partners for this project include the Codman Health Center, which serves as a resource for improving the physical, mental and social well-being of the community; and the Daily Table, a not-for-profit retail store that offers a variety of affordable foods by working with a large network of growers, supermarkets, manufacturers, and other suppliers who donate their excess, healthy food, or provide them with special buying opportunities. Both are located in Dorchester, MA.

Using Classical Music for Nutrition Education

Together with our team and writer Kevin Hong, we have created a new work modeled after Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf,” which was specifically created to introduce listeners to the instruments and sounds of the orchestra.  In our version, we will utilize Prokofiev’s theatrical style & the educational narrative format to represent nutritional principles with specific instruments and musical motives. We call it “A Sweet Fairy Tale.”

The project culminated in two performances in our 2018-19 season in Dorchester and Cambridge.