Ministry of Economy and Finance Selects Cooperative of the Month: Developmental Disability Ensemble 'Dream With Ensemble'

The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on the 28th that it has selected 'Dream With Ensemble,' Korea's first professional orchestra for people with developmental disabilities, as the cooperative of February.

Dream With Ensemble was established with the purpose of nurturing people with developmental disabilities who have an interest and talent in music into economically independent professionals, thereby creating quality jobs.

This cooperative was formed mainly by members and parents from the 'Heart Clarinet Ensemble,' operated by the Heart Heart Foundation since 2015. It was launched to resolve employment insecurity caused by non-regular employment and to address concerns about professionalization as musicians rather than music activities done only as a hobby.

Starting with 35 members and sales of 18 million KRW, Dream With Ensemble now has a total of 69 members, of whom 14 have grown into employee members such as regular members and leaders. They recorded sales of approximately 160 million KRW and a net profit of about 36 million KRW last year through performances, education, and commissioned projects.

In particular, 11 regular members were hired as full-time employees, securing employment stability by guaranteeing enrollment in the four major social insurances, monthly salary system, statutory paid leave, and statutory retirement pay. To maintain and improve their performance skills, they work four days a week (Monday to Thursday).

Dream With Ensemble carries out ▲performance projects as professional musicians ▲educational projects such as free music education tailored for people with developmental disabilities ▲disability awareness improvement projects including workplace disability awareness training ▲and social contribution performance projects involving talent donation performances.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.