Opportuneity Music Connections

09/17/2026

How do you accommodate students? Don't accommodate AT them. Melissa Martiros, our Founder & Executive Director shares her advice on how you can engage students with an IEP in your music classroom.

09/15/2026

Meet our teaching artist, Boba Lee!

Boba is an electronic music artist, educator, and drummer whose work effortlessly bridges mainstream allure and experimental innovation. Grounded in a jazz percussion background, their live performances have nearly half a million streams on YouTube. In addition to solo work, Boba collaborates with electronic artist Cash under the moniker bye, son. Boba has performed at Boston’s House of Blues, New York’s Perelman Performing Arts Center, and MIT’s Kresge Auditorium—where they served as Resident Artist for the MIT Reality Hack Festival three years running (2024–2026). Boba holds a BA in electronic production & design and music education and earned multiple honors, including the 2023 TDK Music Technology Award, the 2023 Excellence in Music Education Award, and the 2024 Professional Education Division Achievement Award. As an alumnus, they went on to contribute to the Berklee Online curriculum. Currently, Boba works as a public school music teacher in Worcester, MA and leads music production programs as a teaching artist.

09/14/2026

We are grateful to the Worcester Arts Council (WAC) for supporting our programs since 2025.

The WAC grant will support our youth program with Worcester Public Schools, helping us continue to give high quality music education to Lincoln St. School students. Thank you to WAC for supporting our youth programming!

09/11/2026

The things we have can only mean so much. The time we give each other can mean everything.

In Episode 9 of the inTUNE Podcast, Travis reflects on why showing up, being present, and making time for the people in our lives matters more than the things we own.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

09/10/2026

Meet our board member, David!

09/09/2026

09/08/2026

Meet our instructor, Kevin!

Kevin Williams will be teaching in the jail and at our Songwriters Circle at Worcester Sheriff’s Office Regional Reentry Cente.

Kevin has had a varied life and career in music, working as an educator, director, conductor, composer, performer, and journalist. He has led choral programs in public and private schools, recorded and toured internationally with original rock acts. He currently works as a gigging guitarist with a popular wedding and event band and as a media composer for film and television documentaries from his home studio. He holds a Master of Music in Composition from the University of Rhode Island and a Master of Music Education from Boston University.

09/04/2026

What does inclusion in music really mean?

For us, it goes beyond access and representation. It means reciprocity, belonging, and creating spaces that are shaped by everyone who enters them.

“Access is being allowed into the room. Belonging is the room changing shape a little because you walked into it.”

09/03/2026

What can music give you when your time isn’t your own?

For John Wayne Cormier Jr., music class became more than a way to pass the time while incarcerated. It gave him something to work toward, a sense of fulfillment, and a way to connect with a part of himself beyond his circumstances.

Today, John has taken that experience and turned it into something he can share with others as a teaching artist.

🎶 Hear John’s story in Episode 7 of inTUNE: Stories of Connection Through Music, available now wherever you get your podcasts.

09/02/2026

🎶 Meet Teaching Artist Rhiannon Hurst!

We’re excited to welcome Rhiannon Hurst back to OpporTUNEity’s after-school youth programs this fall!

Rhiannon’s journey with OpporTUNEity began during her senior year at the College of the Holy Cross, when she joined us as a student intern and created Inclusive Jazz Fundamentals for our youth programs.

Now, she’s returning with even more to share with our students. Rhiannon recently earned her master’s degree in Jazz Studies and Jazz Vocal Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she also served as a Community Outreach Fellow. A YoungArts Winner in Jazz Voice, she has performed internationally at the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival and was selected to represent NEC’s Jazz Studies Department at its 2026 Commencement Concert.

This fall, Rhiannon will bring Inclusive Jazz Fundamentals to Norrback, incorporating new ideas and approaches from her graduate studies.

“I am incredibly excited to join the OpporTUNEity team and contribute to its mission of making music education accessible and engaging for students of all backgrounds.”

We’re just as excited to have her back!