CityMusic Cleveland: Beyond the Call of Duty for Kids
Modeling Musical Outreach after Venezuela's El Sistema Program

Call it going above and beyond the call of duty. For the past five years, the professional chamber orchestra CityMusic Cleveland has been performing sensational, free-of-charge, classical music concerts throughout Northeast Ohio. Their performances grace spaces in Cleveland Heights, Elyria, Rocky River, Slavic Village, and Willoughby. At their scheduled concerts, it's often hard to find a seat because they have been building audiences and community along the way.

Now the group has gone step further: they are extending their reach to the next generation of musicians. The CityMusic Cleveland Education Initiative is modeling their new effort after a 30-year old classical musical outreach program called El Sistema, which was created for the disadvantaged children in Venezuela. OrchKids, under the guidance of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the Bridges Program, under the guidance of the Greater Baltimore Youth Orchestra, also serve as examples of how classical music enriches children's lives. And CityMusic Cleveland stands poised to join them.

Seeing the positive results from these programs, CityMusic Cleveland musicians have adapted their own version, working with the third and fourth grade children in Elyria and Slavic Village in a twice-a-week after school music instruction. Organizations like Save Our Children of Elyria, the mayor's office in Elyria, Slavic Village Development Corporation, together with foundations and Third Federal Savings & Loan, have joined together to help this important program.

"The Education Initiative began over a year ago. It was initially designed as a six-week pilot project and was developed into a 30 week music curriculum, with the CityMusic Cleveland musicians teaching their young students about rhythm, music notes, instruments, and the great composers like Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven. Interwoven through each session, the children learn that listening to their favorite rock and rap artists, they can hear the notes and discern the rhythm patterns the same way as they listen to Mozart, Bach and Beethoven.

"After all," explained Schweigert, "Mozart wrote his first symphony at age 8. This is what we are trying to share with these kids, and they are loving it," she exclaimed.

Five CityMusic Cleveland musicians take turns providing musical instruction for this program: Amitai Vardi, second clarinet; Heidi Ruby-Kushious, principal flute; Jessica Oudin, principal viola; Maaike Harding, cellist; along with Rebecca Schweigert. They are assisted by members of CityMusic’s Internship Program, students and recent graduates at CIM, Oberlin Conservatory, and CSU. These Interns assist in the classrooms, acquiring teaching skills, fundamentals of curriculum development, how to approach and collaborate with community resources.

In addition, CityMusic has also reached out to community volunteers who can read music to assist the teachers, hereby allowing a lot of individual attention devoted to each student. The combination of Master Teachers, as CityMusic’s musicians are called, with the Interns and Volunteers, has allowed CityMusic to expand their program from one day to two days, and accept more students in the program, stretching each dollar in their budget as far they can possibly make it go. A volunteer from Cleveland State University, a graduate from the El Sistema program, has also stepped forth to support this education initiative.

So far, the children have expressed great interest participating in listening exercises, instrument demonstrations, and a talent showcase.

"By the end of a year, we want them to have experience with wind and string instruments, and to be able to play a duet with another music student," said Schweigert. Volunteers who can read music are needed to spend time with the children while they practice.

Contact CityMusic Cleveland online at http://www.CityMusicCleveland.org or call 321-8273. An instrument repair shop in Lorain is helping to fix donated instruments so that the children will be able to use them.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Susan Schaul susn1ATatt.net
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