Buffalo String Works’ mission is to ignite personal and community leadership through accessible, youth-centered music education.

We not only provide rigorous music instruction, but also a creative home for refugee, immigrant, and historically marginalized youth. We recognize the significance of music as a universal language, and by lifting up the voices of our students and parents, we cultivate youth to be leaders and agents of social change.

Our vision: Neighborhoods United by Empowered Young Musicians

Click here to learn more about us!


2022-2023 ANNUAL REPORT

2022-23 was a pivotal year for Buffalo String Works! We celebrated a record number of BSW students at 3 different sites across Buffalo with so much more in store! Check out our Annual Report HERE.

2021-22 ANNUAL REPORT

2020-21 ANNUAL REPORT


Reflections on Resilience

"Reflections on Resilience" was the theme of Carnegie Hall's PlayUSA 2021-22 year. For this project, we invited Damon Banks and Gwen Laster to come to Buffalo String Works to host a 4-day workshop for Teaching Artists and students on composition and improvisation. We also interviewed our Student Leaders on topics such as resilience, home, and change. We shared this project at the annual PlayUSA Convening at Carnegie Hall in June 2022. We hope you enjoy! Watch the video directly from YouTube here.


2022-24 STRATEGIC PLAN

Buffalo String Works is now approaching our tenth year, and we are proud to present our 2022-2024 Strategic Plan. This plan outlines our new mission and vision, guiding principles, and goals that will guide BSW towards developing programming focused on accessible music education. View it here, or watch our video on our four focus areas featuring members of the BSW community!