Founder / Executive Director
Why music matters
Music has always been an important part of my life. Long before anyone understood that a child’s auditory processing was fully functioning during the third trimester, I was receiving the benefit of music stimulation in the womb as my family participated in weekly Sunday night sing-a-longs. My mother and three siblings played the piano and sang, and my father played the mandolin. Once I was born, my participation continued. I learned to sing and to play the piano and later I taught my children the same and now, I am lucky to have my grandson enrolled in one of my classes and so the musical tradition continues.
When I think upon this journey, I am amazed and grateful at the impact that music has had in my life, in my family’s life and now within my children’s families. Even when my Mother could no longer remember our names, she still knew the words to many familiar hymns and would play those same tunes on the piano. The connections in her brain were so strong that they remained throughout her entire life.
This is the foundation of my desire for the children in our community. Together, we can offer families a musical experience that will build strong children. Together, we can make a difference to those who would not otherwise experience the sheer joy of singing and moving together with intentionality as we build life-long connections. Together, we can be inspired as we hear the squeals of glee and laughter as participants and not only spectators.
I am inviting you to join us. You can be a friend like me. You can make a difference by offering your support as we strive to take part in a child’s everyday life. The children and I thank you in advance for your support and assistance.
Musically Yours,
Joy Galliford, PhD | Founder and Executive Director | Friends of South Florida Music
Our mission
Friends of South Florida Music (FSFM), an award-winning nonprofit foundation, provides a research-based curriculum and instruction that leverages music education and attachment-stimulating neuroplasticity in children from birth through first grade, including minority and disabled students through age 18.
By focusing on under-resourced communities in South Florida, FSFM strives to create an inclusive and supportive environment where young minds can thrive, develop creativity, and build confidence through the power of music.
Our foundation
Our leadership and its associated instructors have decades of experience as well as advanced training in music education. Expertise and experience are the foundation of the operation. FSFM is largely funded by grants, private donors and various annual concerts. FSFM currently serves over 1400+ students each year. The organization operates based on results of over twenty years of early childhood research conducted by the founder of FSFM, Dr. Joy Galliford, 2010 Florida College Music Educator of the year award winner, Early Childhood Specialist and Researcher. Her past project leadership and curriculum instruction includes six years of Children’s Trust funding (2005-2011) totaling over $700,000, during which research was conducted regarding music education and child development.
One of these early childhood studies focused on the implementation of a specifically designed music curriculum for children aged three to five. Researchers provided twenty weeks of thirty-minute lessons to 464 children enrolled in two low-income preschool centers in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Participants were randomly selected for the music program with one school being the intervention group (N = 217) and the other, the control group (N = 247). The designed curriculum included activities that (a) were simple for preschool teachers without formal musical training to deliver, (b) were easily integrated into a preschool schedule, and (c) involved parents in the home.
Researchers randomly selected 20% of the total population (N = 92) for testing: 43 children were in the control group. The Musical Movement Test (MMT) was used to measure motor abilities. Eight subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability-Revised (WJ-R) were used to evaluate relative development of linguistic and nonlinguistic skills before and after the music intervention. Research results indicated that two tasks associated with beat competency (motor construct and beat competency) showed significantly increased gains for the treatment group. Out of eight tasks related to the cognitive measure, four of the five linguistic subtests (Visual/Auditory Learning, Incomplete Words, Listening Comprehension, Delayed-Visual Auditory Learning) and two of the nonlinguistic subtests (Sound Patterns and Spatial Relations) showed significant gains for the treatment group. The research results are a featured chapter in the book Learning from Young Children edited by Suzanne L. Burton and Cynthia Crump Taggart.
FSFM is ready to reach and teach our young children and their families. While much has been gained in the field of early childhood education, we know that there is much is left to accomplish. FSFM is ready and committed to advance the field of early childhood education and to reach and teach our young children and their families in underserved areas of our community.
Board of Directors
Leadership Committed to Transforming Lives Through Music
Treasurer
Secretary
Member at Large
Member at Large
Member at Large
Member at Large
Sponsors
Supporting Our Vision Through Generosity and Collaboration
