Salem State University Music & Dance Department

Music alumni Jabari Tovar '16 shares his career journey from SSU undergraduate to the music education classroom. The place where he finds his passion and his joy.

"In his classroom, Tovar prioritizes student growth and belonging. “To me, music education is all about celebrating the small wins,” he says. “When students have breakthrough moments during rehearsals, when they take risks and persevere through challenges, that’s what creates a classroom culture where students feel empowered.”

Jabari also offers some words of wisdom for current students who plan to become arts educators.

Save the Date!

4th Annual North Shore High School Honor Bands

Salem State University
Saturday, December 5, 2026
8 am - 9 pm

Celebrate Salem's 400+ anniversary at the 18th annual Salem Arts Festival! This FREE weekend celebration (June 5-7, 2026) brings downtown Salem to life with incredible performances, a juried artisan marketplace, the 10th anniversary Mural Slam, interactive art experiences, and our beloved Community Art Project. All ages, all weekend, completely free!

It's time for all the tiny dances at Salem Arts Festival , June 5 - 7 in downtown Salem!

Curated by SSU dance professor Betsy Miller, these performances on a 4 x 4 platform are a mainstay of the festival. The range of styles and choreographic ingenuity is always a delightful discovery.

We sing praise to all the dancers participating on the tiny stage this weekend but want to give an extra nod to SSU affiliated performers:

𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟲
🟦Abriana McCollim (11:45am - 12:15 pm and 4:30-5 pm)
🟧Sarah Soares and Aiden Jones (2:45- 3:15 pm and 4:30 - 5 pm)

𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟳
🟦Kaija Schram, Aiden Jones, Mackenzie Trainor and High Street Friends including Angie Benitez and Becky-Jo Roland (11:45 am - 12:15 pm)
🟧Kaija Schram, Mackenzie Trainor, Betsy Miller Dance Projects and High Street Friends including Angie Benitez and Becky-Jo Roland (2:45 – 3:15 pm)
🟦Kaija Schram, Aiden Jones, Betsy Miller Dance Projects and High Street Friends including Angie Benitez and Becky-Jo Roland (4:30-5 pm)

𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟲 - large group dance
North Shore Improv Coalition - Betsy Miller and friends

Celebrate Salem's 400+ anniversary at the 18th annual Salem Arts Festival! This FREE weekend celebration (June 5-7, 2026) brings downtown Salem to life with incredible performances, a juried artisan marketplace, the 10th anniversary Mural Slam, interactive art experiences, and our beloved Community Art Project.

Salem State University Alumni Association and Foundation
Salem State University Music & Dance Department



📷 Creative Collective MA

Bob Strom - author, musician, historian - joins the Salem State Community Chorus for their concert "Salem by the Sea: A Musical Tapestry”. The group will host an open dress rehearsal tonight at 7 pm (audience welcome) and present its formal concert tomorrow, May 13 at 7 pm. The concert takes place in the Salem State Recital Hall, 71 Loring Avenue.

Strom will join the group for performances of "Salem Willows for Mine" and "Get Off the Track" and share his insights about Salem’s diverse musical heritage.

Admission is free, although donations at the door are welcome to support the work of the chorus.

The Recital Hall is located on the ground floor of 71 Loring Avenue. Parking is available across the street from 71 Loring Ave. in the lot marked F/C.

Among our special guests at this week's Salem State Community Chorus concert are two Salem State music alumni: Javier Márquez ’08 and Jabari Tovar '16.

Márquez will conduct his original composition "Passing Hours" set to a poem by 19th century poet Ella Higginson.

Tovar will provide percussion accompaniment for several selections including "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" by Patrick Gilmore, with pianists Simon Byrne and Joe Stroup.

The Salem State Community Chorus presents “Salem by the Sea: A Musical Tapestry” in celebration of Salem 400+ on May 12 (open dress rehearsal) and May 13 (performance) at 7 pm. The concert takes place in Salem State’s Recital Hall located at 71 Loring Avenue.

Parking is available across the street from 71 Loring Ave. in the F/C lot.

Admission is free. Goodwill offerings at the door are welcome to support the work of the chorus.

𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘂𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁 - 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰

Charlotte Forten Grimke was a prominent African American abolitionist, poet, and educator. Born into a wealthy and politically active, free Black family in Philadelphia, she became deeply involved in anti-slavery activism at a young age. She attended Salem Normal School from 1854-1856 and was the first African American student to graduate.

Her "Parody on Red, White, and Blue” was written and performed in Faneuil Hall in 1858 for the annual commemoration of Crispus Attucks’ death in the Boston Massacre and in protest of the Dred Scott decision. Set to the familiar patriotic tune “Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean,” Forten Grimké’s lyrics sharply expose the contradiction of a nation that celebrates liberty while allowing slavery to continue - an effect deepened by the musical irony itself - infusing a well-known patriotic melody with a forceful abolitionist critique.

The Salem State Community Chorus performs:

Tuesday, May 12, 7 pm - open dress rehearsal
Wednesday, May 13, 7 pm - concert

Salem State Recital Hall
71 Loring Avenue

Goodwill offerings at the door are welcome to support the work of the chorus.

The Recital Hall is located on the ground floor of 71 Loring Avenue (Classroom Building).

Parking is available across the street in the F/C lot.

We had a wonderful celebration of the arts at the Creativity Awards on Wednesday night! More photos to come but we wanted to share this group photo and one more congratulations to all of our student honorees and our Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award honoree, Outdoor Sculpture at Maudslay.

Front from left to right:
Eliza Crook (dance) , Ava O'Brien (music), Valerie Flanigan (creative writing, Jazmin Hopkins (creative writing), Jack Newton (dance), Lauren Abramson (theatre), Kallyn Lavallee (art +design), Eve Dizio (art + design)

Back row from left:
Aidan Auditore (music), Cameron Holmes (theatre)

Second photo: Bert Snow speaking on behalf of Outdoor Sculpture at Maudslay.

The upcoming Salem State Community Chorus concert will feature works by a number of Salem composers with texts by Salem writers. Among those composers is Edward Lundergan whose setting of "The Ocean" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was commissioned for this concert in honor of Salem's 400th anniversary.

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote his poem, The Ocean, in 1825, when he was 21, reflecting on the sea's dual nature—furious waves above, quiet depths below. The poem was possibly influenced by his sea captain father's loss at sea when Hawthorne was young - it features a theme of contrasts between life's struggles and death's peace. The Ocean was published in The Salem Gazette that same year.

A native of Salem, MA, Edward Lundergan holds an M.M. from the University of Michigan and a D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from the University of Texas at Austin. Before retiring, he was was Director of Choral Activities and Chair of the Music Department at the State University of New York at New Paltz as well as the Artistic Director of Kairos: A Consort of Singers.

You can hear The Ocean, and so much more, on:
Tuesday, May 12, 7 pm (open dress rehearsal)
Wednesday, May 13, 7 pm (concert)

Recital Hall
71 Loring Avenue.

The Recital Hall is located on the ground floor of 71 Loring Avenue.
Parking is located directly across the street.

Goodwill offerings at the door are welcome to support the work of the Salem State Community Chorus.