South Jersey orchestra making more music with Camden schools

With his chin nestled against the violin and his right hand holding steady on his bow, Kolby Johnson tries to play an E note.

"It's not quite high enough, so make sure your forefinger is on the tape. And you need a little more space in your hand," professional violinist Rebecca Ansel tells him.

The sixth grader's next try produces a cleaner, higher-pitched sound.

"That was good," Ansel assures the 11-year-old with the untucked white uniform shirt, who breaks into a smile.

Kolby is one of about 15 students studying violin at Sacred Heart School in Camden. They are learning to play through a partnership with Symphony in C, South Jersey's professional orchestra.

What started last year as a 10-week after-school course for students at a few of the city's Catholic schools has become a $20,000 program that teaches more than 70 children at all five area Catholic schools to play violin, percussion, woodwinds, and brass.

The program has arrived at a time when some Catholic schools in the diocese have closed and many more have cut their arts budgets. Catholic Partnership Schools - a consortium of St. Anthony, Sacred Heart, St. Joseph Pro-Cathedral, and Holy Name in Camden, and St. Cecilia in Pennsauken - figured out that teaming with area nonprofits would allow students to thrive and produce results that would attract more donors.

"We're having success in how we invest in our children," said Sister Karen Dietrich, executive director of Catholic Partnership Schools. "We cite return on investment."

Prior to Symphony in C's bringing in about a half-dozen professionals to teach and coordinate a youth orchestra in Camden, Sacred Heart music teacher Dawn Bembery would help put on a "sponsor's night" concert featuring students who had honed various artistic talents outside of school. Almost none of the children had ever seen a classical instrument, however.

Opportunities to enjoy what the more affluent world enjoys are limited for the students at Catholic Partnership Schools, 93 percent of whom are from low-income families, said Fran Montgomery, principal of St. Joseph's.

"Anything we can do to open the window to the outside world . . . then they'll have dreams," Montgomery said.

Krishna Thiagarajan, president of Symphony in C since July 2010, has increased the orchestra's community outreach, especially to disadvantaged youth in Camden, where the performance group is based. He previously worked as senior director of artistic operations and education at the Rochester (N.Y.) Philharmonic Orchestra and coordinated partnerships with inner-city schools there.

In addition to the instrumental classes, Thiagarajan arranged a "Souper" Symphony Summer Camp, sponsored by Campbell Soup Co., that hosted 55 students for two weeks at Rutgers-Camden last year.

"You could live your whole life in Camden without ever listening to classical music. Our job is to create that experience," Thiagarajan said in a recent interview.

The Domenica Foundation, a local nonprofit that previously gave Symphony in C and Catholic Partnership Schools individual grants, awarded the orchestra $10,000 last year to launch the classes.

The schools organization held an instrument drive and received dozens of donations, which were supplemented with purchased instruments. The schools now have 10 snare drums, 32 violins, nine trumpets, three trombones, six clarinets, and six saxophones, all of which are taken home by the students to practice on.

Domenica provided a $20,000 grant for the 2011-12 school year, which goes toward lessons and concert costs. Most of the music students are enrolled in after-school programs.

A May 15 concert is scheduled at the orchestra's home, Gordon Theater at Rutgers-Camden, where the students from all of the schools will form an orchestra.

At their hour-long weekly violin classes, students learn to read notes and recognize their sounds when played by the teacher. They also learn to play the note.

After the petite Ansel produces a sound on her violin, the Sacred Heart students try to identify the note. When a student answers right, Ansel asks her to reproduce it. But first, she adjusts the girl's form. Ansel calls herself the "pinkie police."

A squeaky sound emerges from the girl's instrument. The student politely waits for Ansel's critique.

"There is evidence of practicing, which makes me happy," Ansel tells the group after everyone has had a turn.

When the class concludes, the former college professor, who performs throughout the country, reminds her students that they need to practice nightly.

Their siblings and parents don't seem to mind their practicing, but the family pets sometimes look like they've had enough, the students say.

Kolby says he is the first person in his immediate family to play an instrument. He had never seen a violin before he asked to be in last year's class.

"It's a beautiful instrument," he says proudly says as he carefully zips his violin case.

Research shows that youths who participate in an orchestra develop socialization, concentration, and language skills, Thiagarajan said.

"Their overall behavior improves," which could help prevent truancy, he said.

Though it's too early to tell the effect studying instrumental music will have on the children's academic performance, some school officials say they have seen an improvement in the children's moods. They are smiling and seem happy.

"Their city is not filled with beauty. The sounds they hear are not uplifting them," said Sister Karen Dietrich, executive director of Catholic Partnership Schools. "I want them to hear [music] inside their own hearts and to be able to create it."

To see a video of the violin class at Sacred Heart School, go to

www.philly.com/violinlessonsEndText