Musicians Step Up To Serve Disadvantaged Neighborhoods

A new program, MusicianCorps, hopes to do for music education in the U.S. what the Peace Corps did for international service, Good reports.

In late 2007, musician and social entrepreneur Kiff Gallagher began working to launch the program, which sends American musicians around the country on yearlong fellowships to teach music basics to children in underserved communities.

With his mussed hair and lopsided smile, Gallagher exudes a scruffy enthusiasm that makes him seem much younger than his 40 years. "A lot of social justice work is at its root addressing problems associated with exclusion," he says. "Poverty, injustice, racism--it's always one group separated from another. And music is about connecting people and bringing people together."

Read more about how Gallagher's groundbreaking program is gaining traction and one jazz bassist's efforts at a school in New Orleans at Good.

Get HuffPost Impact On Facebook and Twitter!