Imagine an entire school – students, teachers, and administrators – taking time each morning to turn inward together, and listen to a brief mindfulness prompt and world-class music.
The Well's programs combine best practices in arts and wellness and are designed in partnership with those they serve.
We love collaborating with local, national and international community partners and peoples in a variety of arts programming and mindfulness practices.
We are a small yet mighty team, dedicated to making a big difference with what we have. Your support means the world to us.
Mindful Music From Scratch is a collaborative new music project between The Well's Mindful Music Moments program and From Scratch, a long-term creative music education endeavor focused on teaching high-school students how to compose their own music.
In Spring 2025, the From Scratch students sought inspiration from schools participating in Mindful Music Moments for a new 20-minute piece of music that they would compose collaboratively. Across 9 participating schools in Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton and Northern Kentucky, 263 students submitted a "fill-in-the-blank" worksheet with words to be deciphered into 60-90 seconds of music in the final piece.
The new music was composed and recorded in Spring 2025 and will premiere nationally as a featured selection in Mindful Music Moments this Fall 2025.
We asked 9 Mindful Music classrooms across the region to complete a mad-lib about music and mindfulness practices. Their responses were creative and exciting, making for infinite potential of the final piece.
Nine classrooms from Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton and Northern Kentucky sent mad-lib worksheets.
Closeup map of five participating schools in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.
Bryce Kessler visits with 4th grade students at Summit Elementary to complete a class mad-lib about music and mindfulness. Photo by GreenCraft Media.
The classrooms' responses were then deciphered into musical phrases to create the full 18-minute piece with each classroom having a dedicated section. The new music for violin, viola, cello, piano, vibraphone, and percussion. was recorded by Cincinnati Youth Orchestra students at Legacy Soundworks Studio.
Thanks to our amazing student musicians:
Violin, Carmen DeAtley-Rosales
Viola, Zamar Deering
Cellos, Autumn Rinaldi and Jayden Thrasher
Recording session at Legacy Soundworks Studio. Photos by Nick Reece, GreenCraft Media.
Special thanks to one of our "Mindful Music From Scratch" commission sponsors, Summerfair Cincinnati, for making this project possible.
The new work and accompanying animated video will premiere this Fall 2025.
Additionally, Mindful Music Moments was thrilled to feature two selection written by students during Cincinnati From Scratch's Spring 2024 semester. In Spring 2025, our schools nationwide heard "drizzling warmth" by Carmen DeAtley-Rosales and "Her Child" by Aparna Nambirajan as part of their regular Mindful Music Moments.
"drizzling warmth" by Carmen DeAtley-Rosales
"Her Child" by Aparna Nambirajan
Learn more about From Scratch and hear the new music written by students in their full documentary:
THIS COMMISSION IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY:
The Johnstone Fund for New Music
Summerfair Cincinnati
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Our programs have been nourishing the community since 2005. In 2019, we became the non-profit, A Mindful Moment.
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We are a small yet mighty team, dedicated to making a big difference with what we have. Your support means the world to us.
