Neighborhood Strings: In the Heart of Worcester

Since graduating from the CMW Fellowship Program, Ariana Falk (Cello Fellow, 2010-2012) has served as Education Director for the Worcester Chamber Music Society and runs Neighborhood Strings, a program that provides free music lessons and programming to youth from Worcester’s neediest neighborhoods. Here, Ariana updates us on the program.

Neighborhood Strings is now in its sixth year with two program sites and over 50 kids in the program. The new “Green Group” spent the fall learning basic theory and solfege and joyfully received instruments at the annual presentation ceremony, now held in Clark University’s beautiful Tilton Hall. Also at Clark, 14 students enrolled in Community Music and Social Action, a course co-taught  by Neighborhood Strings instructors Ariana, Peter, and Dean Matt Malsky, are serving as mentors this semester for our youth while learning about the philosophical ideas behind social justice and music.

One of the most moving things to witness as a teacher is when students take off with the material we give them and widen their own worlds.

One longtime Neighborhood Strings student, Peter K., has been doing that this fall in an inspiring way. Peter has been playing the viola since the very beginning of Neighborhood Strings, as a fourth-grader. As a student of “big Peter” Sulski, he has really taken off, reaching a level of comfort and joy on his instrument that has allowed him to move onto harder and more satisfying music.

Now a high school sophomore, Peter has come to ChamberFest (our music camp) three times and played works by Corelli, Handel, Mozart alongside advanced players his age and older. Most exciting – last fall, he took on the challenge of playing in Clark Sinfonia, a college-level ensemble, where he played the entire program last month as a member of the viola section. I loved watching him sit with the college students, studying his scores and standing proudly on the stage of Razzo Hall. Any younger Neighborhood Strings student can simply look at Peter to see how music can send them on an amazing journey.

Coming up, all students in our program will get on stage in Worcester’s gorgeous Mechanics Hall to play at our group’s annual family concert  in front of a sold-out crowd of 800 people (the opening act to Peter and the Wolf). The NS Club, our team leadership group, received a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council for a number of youth-led concerts around the community, a recording, and a TV appearance. And for the first time, all Neighborhood Strings students will be invited to attend our two-week summer Chamber Fest camp and mingle with advanced chamber music players from around the region. By the way, we welcome students from other programs looking for a similar experience and will do our best to provide scholarships. A lot to look forward to!

–Ariana Falk
Director, Neighborhood Strings

Learn more about Neighborhood Strings here.