“CMW has transformed my life forever.”For students and staff alike, it has been another magical, whirlwind of a year with trips to Washington, memorable musical performances, as well as a prestigious fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation for our founder. As the season comes to a close and we gear up for our final activities, put student instruments in storage for the summer, send students off to various music camps, and plan schedules and events for the upcoming year, I’m pausing to reflect on my experience within this remarkable organization over the past ten years. As a member of the Providence String Quartet since 2001, I have witnessed extraordinary growth and transformation with our students and families. All of the students that have stayed with us through high school have gone on to attend college, some even choosing to pursue music. Many of our families have volunteered countless hours and boldly taken on Friday afternoon traffic on Manton Avenue to get their kids to All-Play Day because they too believe in this ongoing experiment called Community MusicWorks. Our mission statement reads, “To create a cohesive urban community through music education and performance that transforms the lives of children, families, and musicians.” It is perhaps easy to overlook the last two words, “…and musicians.” CMW is not only about the transformation that takes place for our young participants and their families, but also about the personal growth that occurs within our own staff and the many friends in our constantly growing—and increasingly international—network of professional musicians. Leaving the New England Conservatory in 2000, I had worked hard on my violin playing but was unsure if that meant anything. The allure of pursuing a cushy orchestra job was tempting, but when I was approached by Sebastian about joining CMW, I was intrigued because it seemed to encapsulate three ideas that interested me: string quartets, teaching, and social justice. After my first year in Providence with a few growing pains (you mean I should keep a planner?), I can honestly say, here in 2011, that being a part of this incredible experiment for ten years has been more musically and spiritually nourishing than I possibly could have imagined. CMW has transformed my life forever. While there are many, many highlights over the last ten years, I want to share two distinct memories that demonstrate just how musically and spiritually nourishing this past decade has been for me. First, a particularly powerful moment from this past October was performing Jessie Montgomery’s “Anthem” in Washington with my colleagues and a group of our teens, just steps away from the site of the future Martin Luther King Jr. memorial. This moving experience reaffirmed my belief that music can be an aesthetically beautiful and powerful form of activism. Another highlight for me was the Providence String Quartet’s “Dvořák Walk” in January 2008. We had prepared a program around Antonín Dvořák’s time in America, when he was the director of the National Conservatory of Music. After performing the program in Providence, we traveled to New York City’s Lower East Side to perform at the Third Street Music School Settlement (an institution that dates back to the era when settlement houses were important hubs of local communities). Later that day, we visited Dvořák’s home, the building that contained the now defunct Conservatory, and finally a park that hosts a bronze bust of the Czech composer. This historical excursion was meaningful to me because Dvořák himself was a passionate musical activist; he encouraged minorities to apply to the National Conservatory and waived tuition for those who could not afford to attend. He was also one of the first composers to recognize the power and beauty of the Black spiritual and Native American music. In fact, the two genres greatly influenced the music he composed while living in America. Many years ago, when I was applying to college, I received a brochure from Oberlin with an image of the Earth on the cover and a question posed above the planet, “Think one person can change the world?” At the bottom was the answer, “So do we.” I remember thinking how idealistic and naïve this seemed to be. While I remain skeptical about my own singular impact on the world, with my amazing colleagues, our wonderful CMW families, and strong supporters like you, I am starting to believe that one organization can change the world. During this transition from spring to summer, our work to transform our community continues unabated. So does our need for your financial support. Thank you for supporting Community MusicWorks! -Jesse Holstein, Senior Resident Musician To make a secure online donation, please click here or on the icon below. |
