Sunset Park School of Music Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Instrument making workshops. Served 50 directly. Served 500 people indirectly. Instrument Making workshop. Professional instrument makers and players of the Japanese shakuhachi, hichiriki, and the Chinese/Japanese flute (ryuteki/fue/guanzi) instruments worked with the students to make their own instruments. The workshops were held twice each semester and once during the summer session. The workshops were held on Saturdays and were scheduled for four hours to cover a short performance and demonstration by the instrument maker, instruction on how to make the instruments, the actual making of the instruments using tools and bamboo provided by the school, and the teaching how to play the instruments once made. The instrument makers/players included the Executive Director, who has studied instrument making in Japan, and other artists that have studied instrument making in China, Korea, and Japan. The instruments included the Japanese shakuhachi (flute), Japanese hichiriki (double reed instrument), Chinese double reed instrument (guanzi) and Chinese/Japanese flute. These workshops were held throughout the school year at the Sunset Park School of Music. We were able to complete the workshops before the school transitioned to online on March 15, 2020. Each workshop lasted approximately four hours. The students not only made their own instruments but also learned how to play them in the workshop. These instruments are used throughout Asian countries in formal, informal and folk music settings. Many of our students are recent immigrants of Asian countries and we think this is a great opportunity for them, and other non-Asian students, to learn about their indigenous music instruments. A highlight of the participants of these workshops in previous years was attending the Annual Concert of Japanese Heritage Music, a free concert sponsored by Columbia University's IMJS: Japanese Cultural Heritage Initiatives. This concert was cancelled due to the coronavirus, so unfortunately the students were not able to attend this year. We were able to set up and invite the students to an online concert of traditional music broadcast from Japan. This concert allowed the students to see and hear the instruments and meet (online) some of the leading practitioners of traditional instruments. Sunset Park School of Music Executive Director Thomas Piercy was a featured hichiriki performer at the online concert. There are several traditional instrumental Japanese and Chinese ensembles for amateurs in NYC. People from our workshops will be able to join these ensembles to further their interest in the instruments. Private instruction is also available to those students interested in taking lessons.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 95.2%; rating input score 95
• Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 4.8%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.59; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 39.8%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: -1.6% per year; rating input score 0; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 18.1% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings