Gig: Planning PMT's Inclusive Fall Recital

The Project
This project is for a UNCC Student to be responsible for lots of details coordination for a biannual Fall Recital scheduled in November 2026. They would assist to post this volunteer opportunity to SHARE Charlotte, lead contacting prior identified food sponsors to request community funding of healthy reception following the performances; create Canva/promotional materials for communicating with client & student participants/families; coordinate an inclusive digital program for eventual printing, etc. Following the recital event, send a survey to attendees, performers and volunteers to assist in improving the event planning moving forward. Collect feedback from staff participants, too (this already is a routine process, but perhaps a more creative process would be more engaging) if the student is interested in facilitating that!

Learning Experience
1. Real-World Application - the students will explore empathy, clarity and time management skills by assisting to plan and arrange many details to ensure a safe and joyful experience at the PMT Fall Recital. 2. Critical Thinking -the students will obtain problem-solving skills because this is a traditional event that Piedmont Music Therapy has been offering and arranging for approximately 9 years. Certainly the students may identify improvements in processes with perhaps utilization of AI or other more modern technologies. 3. Collaboration - the student will have the opportunity to work with a team of music therapists; local business that runs sound/AV for the event; external stakeholders which are music therapy client or music students and their families/friends. 4. Creativity - in addition to critical thinking, students use creativity to address tasks with provided resources of Canva, Wix and GoogleSuite. 5. Ownership of Learning - After the students are oriented to our organization, they will complete the bulk of the work independently with regular weekly check-in meetings to ensure staying on track with project management. 6. Retention of Knowledge - Paperwork methods will be presented from previous Spring & Fall Recitals; and shared access to platforms: Canva, GoogleDocs/Sheets will be provided. This hopes to aid the students in accurate documentation methods and planning in an organized manner. 7. Preparation for the Future - Students will spend their time learning in a creative arts ecosystem with room for remote hours. Piedmont Music Therapy focuses upon health and safety which will help to encourage the students to discern their priorities and sustainability in their chosen fields of learning.

Outcomes
The student will assist to manage a successful and inclusive biannual community performance of approximately 60 attendees. Oftentimes, our nonprofit scrambles the weeks prior to receive small donations of foods for the reception, sourcing free/reduced cost items for performer gifts (i.e. past years it has been a musical Kneedo, pumpkin gourde with musical pun/affirmation attached, 3-d printed guitar pic, etc.) and if there was an intern that was focused upon executing a well organized, planned and coordinated event, it could ease the messaging to performers, caregivers/families, volunteers and staff involved. The student will likely feel impacted personally by witnessing one of the pinnacles of the project which is the actual afternoon recital. The student will learn about accessibility features and considerations when working with a diverse group of performers due to age and ability. PMT is excited at the potential to work with an intern from UNCC, and explore outcomes through a collaborative learning experience. Our organization's motto is connect, play and grow through the arts for a stronger community. An internship program could help strengthen that mission! UNC Charlotte Gig Training Program