Neighborhood Strings has been up and running since November! Fourteen students, ages 6-12, have joined our new after-school music program – all from Main South and all students at Woodland Academy. They come two or three times a week, some days in groups of similar age and on Fridays in a big, diverse group. There is so much joy and energy around music-making in the group that Peter and I find it easy to feel inspired in return.
We’ve been having fun but also building musical fundamentals. The students have learned solfege songs, jammed to a “rhythm machine,” practiced rhythm through bucket drumming, and begun to read notes. They’ve listened to a lot of good music already – solo Bach rendered by Peter and me, Bartok duos, and guest appearances by Tracy and others who have visited. I’m often struck by how imaginative and thoughtful the students are in their responses to music. (And everything else – when I asked them what animal they thought the bow hair might come from, the first shouted guess was – lion!)
A few interactions have felt especially touching. One week, Peter brought in the entire Clark Sinfonia to play for the Neighborhood Strings students. The kids were a great audience, bubbling over with enthusiasm and questions for the college-age musicians. It was fun to see the kids inspired by still-young musicians who live and play in their same community. Several Clark and Holy Cross students have been coming regularly to help out with the program, and it’s been wonderful both to have their help and to see relationships forming with the kids.
The students will finally receive their own instruments in January at a special ceremony at which they’ll also perform for their families and show off how much they’ve already learned. The last two weeks before the holidays, they practiced the postures and positions of holding instruments with cereal-box violins and dowel bows. We who have played for life can easily forget how scary – and thrilling – it can be to pick up an instrument for the first time. We’ve built it into a big deal to receive and care for a string instrument, and it’s fun to see and hear how excited they are to get their violins, violas and cellos.
There’s a lot to look forward to this winter and spring: getting to know the families of our students better, bringing kids and parents to concerts around Worcester, and our first performance party, when the students will strut their stuff. We will keep you posted.
~Ariana