In the fall of 2012, I became a Resident Musician with musiConnects and the cellist of the Sumner Quartet. I was excited about the unique model of this organization; which gives the Resident Musicians the opportunity to bring music lessons to an underserved population of students as well as to be able to play with a professional string quartet. I did not realize at the time that accepting the position at musiConnects was one of the best decisions of my career. I have always wanted to teach music, but now that I have had the experience of working with musiConnects, I have decided to dedicate my career to bringing music to underserved communities and working with arts organizations that create social change. Although I recently became employed full time by another arts organization in Boston and could not remain a musiConnects Resident Musician, I could not imagine not being a part of the mC community. The board has graciously accepted me as a new member and I look forward to continuing to contribute to musiConnects’ important mission.
When I was first hired back in 2012, I quickly became enamored with my students at the Chittick School and looked forward to getting to know them better week after week. Watching them learn and become stronger cello players was just one of the reasons I started to feel attached to these students. I learned some eye-opening stories about a few of the children; and finding out one of them had recently lost his brother to gang violence was one of the harder things to hear from a seven-year-old. I started to feel like, in addition to being this young boy’s cello teacher, I was also a supportive adult for him to see on a weekly basis who would listen to him if he needed to talk. I have also known students whose family would not pick them up after programming, so one of our teachers would bring them home. Other students we’ve had in our program do not always have something to eat at home, so we send them home with any leftover snacks from our events. At musiConnects, the teachers support students in a richer way than a typical teacher-student relationship; providing transportation, meals, and emotional support in addition to musical instruction. To me, this is a good example of the social change that musiConnects is working to impact.
A particular student that stood out to me that first year was a very bright, focused boy who started playing cello sort of by default, since a time slot with me was the only spot available in the program. He tells me now that he originally wanted to play the violin, but he’s glad he ended up as a cellist. He was not the strongest player in the beginning. He struggled with his bow hold, and he was a little bit behind the other students in his class of beginners since he started several months into the school year. But week after week, I would teach him his cello lesson in the cold, echoing hallway at the top of the stairwell. Shortly after we started lessons I could tell this student had something special about him. He worked hard at both his academics and music and he became a great behavioral role model for his peers. With lots of practice and determination, he soon became one of the strongest players in his class, and was contributing both musically and socially to his chamber group and the Chittick Orchestra. In his fourth grade year he tested into the BPS Advanced Work program and had to transfer to another Boston Public School during the day for that program, but his parents felt so strongly about his participation in musiConnects that they continued to bring him to Chittick after school for our programming. When he was in 5th grade I was proud to have written him a recommendation letter for a competitive independent school that he now attends for 6th grade. He also auditioned for the school orchestra and was accepted, and I am happy to be continuing to teach him privately this year to support his musical goals. This particular student always had the potential for great success, and I feel strongly that musiConnects helped him gain the confidence and vision to see himself where he is today.
When I was first hired back in 2012, I quickly became enamored with my students at the Chittick School and looked forward to getting to know them better week after week. Watching them learn and become stronger cello players was just one of the reasons I started to feel attached to these students. I learned some eye-opening stories about a few of the children; and finding out one of them had recently lost his brother to gang violence was one of the harder things to hear from a seven-year-old. I started to feel like, in addition to being this young boy’s cello teacher, I was also a supportive adult for him to see on a weekly basis who would listen to him if he needed to talk. I have also known students whose family would not pick them up after programming, so one of our teachers would bring them home. Other students we’ve had in our program do not always have something to eat at home, so we send them home with any leftover snacks from our events. At musiConnects, the teachers support students in a richer way than a typical teacher-student relationship; providing transportation, meals, and emotional support in addition to musical instruction. To me, this is a good example of the social change that musiConnects is working to impact.
A particular student that stood out to me that first year was a very bright, focused boy who started playing cello sort of by default, since a time slot with me was the only spot available in the program. He tells me now that he originally wanted to play the violin, but he’s glad he ended up as a cellist. He was not the strongest player in the beginning. He struggled with his bow hold, and he was a little bit behind the other students in his class of beginners since he started several months into the school year. But week after week, I would teach him his cello lesson in the cold, echoing hallway at the top of the stairwell. Shortly after we started lessons I could tell this student had something special about him. He worked hard at both his academics and music and he became a great behavioral role model for his peers. With lots of practice and determination, he soon became one of the strongest players in his class, and was contributing both musically and socially to his chamber group and the Chittick Orchestra. In his fourth grade year he tested into the BPS Advanced Work program and had to transfer to another Boston Public School during the day for that program, but his parents felt so strongly about his participation in musiConnects that they continued to bring him to Chittick after school for our programming. When he was in 5th grade I was proud to have written him a recommendation letter for a competitive independent school that he now attends for 6th grade. He also auditioned for the school orchestra and was accepted, and I am happy to be continuing to teach him privately this year to support his musical goals. This particular student always had the potential for great success, and I feel strongly that musiConnects helped him gain the confidence and vision to see himself where he is today.