Sweet Music

YWCA, Symphony Join Forces To Offer Music Lessons

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Symphony of the Mountains is partnering with Bristol’s YWCA to offer free group music lessons to girls participating in the YWCA after-school program.
Students learn fundamentals of music – melody, harmony, structure – and are taught a simple song that they perform as a recorder choir. The recorder tone is very clear and sweet, making it an appealing instrument for beginning music students.
The YWCA Tech GYRLS are fourth to ninth graders in an after-school program designed to mentor them during the transitional years between elementary to middle school, and middle school to high school.
“We hope to encourage these young ladies to pursue unique extracurricular activities during their adolescence. Self-esteem, discipline and responsibility are integral to their development, and we are committed to our mission to provide that to them,” said Kathy Waugh, Bristol YWCA executive director.
John Bursey, SOTM principal violist, serves as project coordinator for the pilot program. 
“This is a project that goes to my heart. To spend time with the girls over an entire semester and watch their musical, academic and personal transformation is as rewarding as work can possibly be,” Bursey said.
Volunteer musicians, including SOTM Music Director/Conductor Cornelia Kodkani-Laemmli, and college music students from UVA- Wise, King College and Milligan College teach the weekly lessons to the girls. Each girl received a brightly colored recorder for use during class, as well as one to keep at home for daily practice. 
In the early classes, students were introduced to the objectives of the project: to learn rudiments of music, such as melody, harmony and rhythm; how to read music; how to play the recorder and learn music history. They have learned to play several well-known songs such as “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” “Hot Cross Buns” and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”  The girls will showcase their new skills in a public recital next April. 
SOTM Executive Director M. Zane Myers, himself a Juilliard-trained musician, recently attended one of the recorder classes to observe their progress.
“This kind of program is absolutely critical to the region as further budget cuts are implemented in the public school system,” Myers said. “The truth is that music education, particularly private instruction, is quite simply out of reach for some families. Our job is to make sure that no child, no matter their personal circumstances, misses the joy of making music.”
SOTM has also provided tickets to its performances for the girls, as well as their families, to understand the concert atmosphere and what opportunities are available to them through these lessons. 
Music education is a critical component of the services SOTM offers to Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. The scope of services includes the 65-member Youth Orchestra, the only symphonic youth orchestra between Knoxville and Roanoke; the 25-member Youth String Ensemble, a training ensemble for aspiring Youth Orchestra members; an annual Family Concert that includes pre-concert instrument building from everyday objects and post-concert Instrument Petting Zoo with the orchestra’s professional musicians; and Musicians in the Schools and Communities Program which offers free outreach visits to school classrooms and community agencies by professional musicians.
For more information, call (423) 392-8426, e-mail or visit http://www.symphonyofthemountains.org.