Imagination Made Real: The Power of Music in One Community

There is a simple concept behind (el Sistema founder) Abreu’s work: for him an orchestra is first and foremost about togetherness, a place where children learn to listen to each other and to respect one another.
-T.E.D. Conference website

In the gritty north Chicago Uptown neighborhood, a place where over 60 languages are regularly spoken, classical music is changing the lives of hundreds. There, a community has come together to provide opportunities for its most vulnerable and at-risk members: Its children. For over 30 years, The People’s Music School has faithfully provided rigorous, top-level music lessons in a nurturing environment in its after-school programs. Moreover, the school’s services are entirely free. Its founder, Dr. Rita Simo took a circuitous path in life before finding her life’s work: She came to the US from her native Dominican Republic to pursue a career as a concert pianist. After earning a Juilliard performance certificate and a doctorate in music from Boston University, she became a nun. For several years, Dr. Simo gave free private music lessons to a small group of students. But for Rita, it wasn’t enough. Eventually, she left the order to pursue her dream, founding the school on a shoestring budget. Today, The People’s Music School is in its own building, with 30 teachers providing music lessons and theory training through a disciplined curriculum. Partnering with universities, musicians from the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and area businesses, in a true community effort, the school continues to be the only entirely free music school in the United States. And, even though the parents may pay no tuition, they are actively involved in the school, keeping it safe, clean and organized, in true community spirit.

Last fall, Deborah dos Santos, a brilliant and passionate 23 year old violinist from Brazil, contacted Shar. Deborah had a dream: To start a youth orchestra in Chicago, modeled on the principles of the great Venezuelan youth orchestra movement, el Sistema. Deborah, who considers herself part of “a chain of music volunteers”, grew up in poverty but discovered music early in life. She did not waste this opportunity — at a music festival in Brazil, she met CSO principal oboist Alex Klein and Vermeer Quartet violist Richard Young. At their request, Chicago’s North Park University offered Deborah a scholarship, where she is currently completing her double major in non-profit management and music, studying with Richard Young.

Several things jumped out at us, as our small donations committee reviewed Deborah’s request:

· Deborah had the passion, background and training to bring her vision to fruition

· She had convinced The People’s Music School to make the youth orchestra part of its program and provide its enthusiastic support

· Deborah had recruited not only teachers to volunteer their services, but had found the physical space for the youth orchestra in nearby Hibbard Elementary School

· Deborah had created a business plan to assure that the new program was a sustainable model . . . and she named the orchestra in honor of the school’s founder: YOUTH ORCHESTRA UPTOWN RITA SIMO . . . YOURS

The case was indisputable: All that was lacking to make Deborah’s vision real were the instruments.

Last week, Charlie Dwyer (Shar’s social media guru and videographer, and a darn good cellist!) and I visited The People’s Music School, its Executive Director, Bob Fiedler and the director of YOURS, Deborah dos Santos. More importantly, we brought along the instruments Deborah had requested, violins, violas, cellos and even a bass that had been expertly gathered and prepared by Shar apprentice Alyssa Wong, www.sharmusic.com/apprenticelanding.asp We delivered the instruments directly to the place where YOURS sessions would begin the following week, nearby Hibbard Elementary School. There, we met the young students who would be playing the instruments. All of them were returning from last year’s sessions and they gave us a warm welcome, along with Hibbard Elementary Principal, Scott Ahlman. We also met dedicated YOURS teachers Javier, Cassie and Taryn, all music students at North Park University

Later, Bob Fiedler and Deborah filled in the details of the incredible story of YOURS and The People’s Music School. Among the many things we learned:

· The demand for the school’s services was limitless: Parents and students literally camped in line for three days for the opportunity to snag one of the 350 coveted spots. In a Chicago Sun Times article last year, one parent, Erika Gonzalez, who succeeded in enrolling her two children after camping for three days, said “Education is power. When kids have too much time on their hands, they join gangs”.

· In true community effort, YOURS has been able to attract qualified teachers that volunteer their services. The teachers have included music students, such as Cassie, Javier and Taryn, as well as seasoned professionals from university faculty and players form the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

· There are a multitude of places available for YOURS, especially the city’s elementary schools. Teachers and principals have recognized that the YOURS program greatly benefits their school and their children, especially in the face of non-existent budgets. Clean, safe facilities have been made available as well as secure and organized storage for instruments.

· The single factor that limits YOURS is the availability of instruments . . . for every new instrument added to the program, a child is added to the program. It’s that simple.

As Charlie and I headed home after our day trip to Chicago, we couldn’t help but be energized by all we had learned that day and the days leading up to our trip. We already had some knowledge about the role of classical training in the development of the brain and its connection to success in other endeavors; we had read about the YOURS program in the Chicago Tribune and watched the ABC and CBS television videos about the program. In fact, we had already become aware that el Sistema was not only successful as a social program, but had rapidly produced scores of skilled musicians that had gone on to great international success . . . among them, the newly-appointed Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, 28 year Gustavo Dudamel, himself a product of el Sistema. What most impressed us is that anything is possible, even a Venezuelan system of youth orchestra training with a decidedly American partnership of private enterprise, community volunteering and parental involvement.

I was raised to believe that everybody has a responsibility to their community

- Mary Travers