A year from now, when once again cries of “back to school” have some young folks dreading the return of a daily grind, a local civic group plans to be tuning up a program to excite the community’s underprivileged children by immersing them in a program designed to expand and enhance their lives.
The Kiwanis Club of Lake Norman, a small, 30-member organization with a big heart when it comes to helping young people, will introduce a version of the internationally acclaimed el Sistema musical program next fall.
The program, an overwhelming success in Venezuela, its country of origin, is growing in popularity in other countries, including the United States. The el Sistema concept provides musical instruments, dedicated instruction and an introduction to classical music for selected atrisk young people. The Kiwanis Club plans to work with schools to identify kindergarten through third grade students to start the program, adding a higher grade each year.
For now, the club’s current objective is to spread the word and generate some support for the sizable undertaking, which would join a one-year-old program in Durham as the active el Sistema operations in North Carolina.
Russ Smith, a club member credited with lighting a fire under efforts to get the local program started after seeing a segment about el Sistema on the news magazine television show 60 Minutes, said the program would include daily after-school lessons and group gatherings on the weekend while exposing local children to a world they might otherwise never experience.
“As Kiwanians, we feed and clothe kids, that’s a club priority,” Smith says. “This will provide another way for us to nourish kids. It is another way we can enhance their lives and provide something that will make the rest of their lives better.”
Robin Noud, vice president of the Lake Norman club, says the effort to start the program is in its infancy, and the most important thing now is to inform schools, businesses and other civic groups about el Sistema and what it can mean to local children.
“I don’t know much about classical music,” Noud says in explaining her role as one of the promoters of the project, “but I do know how to get things going. We’re going to talk to everyone we can to make sure they understand what the program is about and what it can mean for the entire community.”
All the club needs, Smith says with a smile, is money, volunteers, music teachers and instruments.
“And the funny thing,” he says, “the instruments will be the easiest to find.”
After that, the club plans to bring a full-time director on board to implement the program and reach as many children as possible.
El Sistema provides instruction on classical music instruments in an orchestra setting where the musicians learn and perform as a group. Concerts, according to Smith, are a big part of the program because they introduce the students to the performance atmosphere and provide motivation to want to show others what they can do.
“At first, there will probably be a lot of squeaking,” Smith says, anticipating the beginning efforts to play stringed instruments, “but that’s part of the learning process.”
The learning process also involves an introduction to a world away from tough home environments.
“The program is designed for children who need some positive things in their lives,” Noud says. “In Durham, after only a year, people from the schools say they saw significant improvement in class participation, eye-to-eye contact and overall classroom performance from the kids taking part in the program.”
In short, she explains, it uses the music lessons to provide hope and fellowship for children who might otherwise experience only hopelessness and solitude.
Many aspects of the program, developed 35 years ago in Venezuela by Jose Abreau, indirectly address social issues.
“A lot of children today want immediate results, they want to skip to the end,” Smith explains. “With classical music, you don’t skip any steps. You have to start at the beginning and stay with it. What you end up with is a different kind of kid, one who knows what it takes to complete something and see it through. You get a kid with more potential.”
And the fact that the focus is on classical music is also significant.
“Many of the children we hope to reach have tough situations at home,” Noud says, “and, more than likely, modern music is the background music they connect to life at home. Classical music will be a new, fresh experience. It will be the sound of a safe, nurturing place.”
Ben Fuller, a professional musician who witnessed el Sistema in action in Scotland and received an Abreau Fellowship scholarship to study at el Sistema’s North American headquarters at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, is helping promote the local effort and wants to play a role in getting the Lake Norman chapter up and running. Fuller will spend a year learning the basics of el Sistema, including the business side of things, and he will travel all over, including Venezuela, to experience various programs in action. But he also wants to be a contact person to distribute information about the program and what it could provide to area children.
For additional details about the Kiwanis Club effort to get el Sistema started, or to get involved in the fundraising or organizational aspect of the project, contact Noud at rnoud@miconnection.net or 704-351-5644 or Fuller at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 704-877-0206.
