What is Musical Bridges?
The University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance strongly supports the goal to recruit from underserved populations. Historically, however, our minority applicant pool has not been as broad as we would like. Those who do apply frequently do not meet the academic and audition requirements for admission. We propose that the best way to ensure a pool of applicants who will qualify for admission to UMKC Conservatory (or another institution of higher education) is to provide underserved pre-collegiate musicians and dancers in Kansas City with quality training prior to arriving at the Conservatory. While some of this can take place through ensemble instruction at the pre-collegiate level, the ability to reach the highest levels of artistry in music and dance almost always depends on individual nurturing through one-on-one lessons beginning at an early age. To foster this nurturing of artistic potential, the Conservatory has created a “bridge fund” endowment to provide m
