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What is Harmony?
Harmony is a Penn State sanctioned performing arts club for children and adults with and without disabilities. Through the arts, Harmony fosters relationships between Penn State volunteers and these individuals. In order to create harmony, students and volunteers must work together to make a voice.
Our Mission
Harmony is a multidisciplinary performing arts program that helps integrate individuals, both with and without disabilities. Once a week, the students meet with Penn State volunteer mentors in the HUB dance studio for rehearsal. There, the students learn various acting, dancing, and musical skills all presented in a joyous environment. All mentors go through a Special Education Training workshop and have up to date background checks. Because the program is run by Penn State college students for the benefit of the community, participation in the program is free of charge.
Music and drama therapy have been used successfully with people of all ages and a variety of disorders and afflictions. Research has shown that music helps all kinds of people to better express themselves and their emotions. Harmony takes things a step further by having student mentors connect closely with its participants; our program is a great way to build relationships, promote inclusion, develop emotional awareness, and improve communication and self-expression. We invite you to you to become a part of our performing arts group!
What We Do
Rehearsal Information
Both Harmony and HarMINIs rehearsals will be held in-person in Fall 2023!
Harmony
When: Monday, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Where: Hetzel Union Building Room 232
HarMINIs
When: Monday, 5:15pm - 6:00pm
Where: Hetzel Union Building Room 232
“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent"
- Victor Hugo
A Word From Our Founder
I am blessed to have a sibling with special needs. From the day my parents brought him home from the hospital, it was clear something was different. He was antisocial and had difficulty communicating. My family later learned he has Aspergers Syndrome, a type of Autism. As we grew up, he seemed perpetually lonely; unable to express himself or connect with others. But we would sing together and play games of make believe. In doing that, I watched him find a way to break through.
I took an interest in how the arts effected people with Autism and learned that performing arts helped children with a variety of special needs cognitively, socially, and emotionally. As I pursued theatre in performing and management, I noticed that there were limited if any opportunities for these children to engage in the arts. Having experience volunteering with special needs people, I met some parents in the State College area and found that there was a demand for extracurricular opportunities for special needs children.
In 2011 I was VP of a mentoring program for National Society of Collegiate Scholars called Planning to Achieve Collegiate Excellence. With the help of my partner, Stephanie Wilson, my Co-VP, Kelly Hughes, and the support of the society, we started planning a program called Harmony. Harmony’s first class was in Fall of 2013 and I’m so pleased with how much it has improved and evolved since then. I hope as time goes on, the program will continue to grow while always staying true to its original intent: to be a safe place for children to learn and play.
- Lucia Bacque
Learn more about some of our amazing alumni!