UCMP Celebrates Annual 2025 Fundraiser, Honors Last Original Students

Wednesday, November 12, the United Children’s Music Project (UCMP) celebrated its Annual 2025 Fundraising Event, “A Night on the Hudson,” at the Chart House in Weehawken. The event marked 13 years of UCMP’s work with performances by the UCMP orchestra, a guest artist from NJ Symphony, and an awards ceremony recognizing key sponsors including Ponce Bank, OFBI New Jersey, Weehawken Township, and NJ Symphony.

UCMP was founded by Melina Garcia, whose goal was to “ensure that every child, regardless of background, could experience the life-changing gift of orchestral music.” Located in Weehawken, the program teaches orchestral music to children ages three to eighteen. With support from Mayor Turner and the township since 2019, the program has grown from two teachers and fifty-four preschoolers to twelve teachers and 900 students.

“The enthusiastic teachers are what shape the program’s core,” said Donna “Coney Island” Hochhauser, the UCMP Board’s secretary. Two students were recently accepted into the Juilliard Musical Advancement Program.

The gala also honored four graduating students from UCMP’s original 2012 cohort. “I have known these four since they were 3 years old,” Garcia said. “It has been fourteen years since then, and I have watched them grow as musicians as well as students.”

Guests enjoyed performances by beginner and advanced ensembles, including Latin jazz pieces and orchestral works. The evening concluded with a solo by Brazilian violinist Thierry de Lucas Nieves of NJ Symphony, a longtime UCMP partner.

“A Night on the Hudson” highlighted UCMP’s growth since 2012 and its continued mission to provide musical education to children across Hudson County.