Decoda was founded in 2012 by musicians who first collaborated as members of Ensemble Connect, a two-year fellowship program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute in partnership with the NYC Department of Education. After leaving this program, the Decoda musicians were inspired to keep playing together and to create an entrepreneurial model for artists who want to meaningfully engage with society. In March 2012, the FSN team was invited to Camden, South Carolina to collaborate on a series of youth workshops.

FSN's collaboration with Decoda was the brainchild of cellist extraordinaire Claire Bryant, who grew up in Camden and has been running an annual residency program there for professional musicians and young artists. These sessions brought together high school students from different cultural and economic backgrounds to bond through the creation of original music. FSN brought our songwriting and production expertise to the program, creating a series of original songs with the students.