MYCincinnati Teaches About Music AND Life

They are young, impressionable minds from different diverse ethnicities, religions, and socio economic backgrounds but through music they are learning to be as one. They are growing individually into more compassionate, empathetic, responsible, and confident human beings; and they are growing collectively as mentors, teachers, learners, team members and performers.

These are the 90+ members of MYCincinnati (Music for Youth in Cincinnati), a free youth orchestra program for youth who live and go to school in Price Hill. While students learn violin, viola, cello or double bass as part of an orchestra, they also learn so much more about life skills.

Such a wonderful concept! I spoke with Eddy Kwon, program director who co-founded MYCincinnati as part of the nonprofit Price Hill Will with Laura Jekel in 2011. He told me the goal is not necessarily to create professional musicians, but well rounded, compassionate, empathetic humans interested in the greater good.

What makes this music program unique – in addition to the fact that this is absolutely a neighborhood empowerment driven initiative – is that MYCincinnati is group focused and community centered. Instead of incorporating private lessons and at home practice, theirs is all about learning, practicing and performing together, and supporting each other in the process.

“We want our participants to have fun but we also hold them to the highest stands. We really push each of them to the health of the whole group, rather than on pursuing individual desires and impulses,” Eddy said.

“We’ve found that that keeps them engaged. It is difficult for people new to playing musical instruments to sound good, and it can be pretty easy to become discouraged if they practice by themselves. With MYCincinnati, they make friends and when they are all working together and enjoying it, the experience can be pretty addicting.”

If you don’t believe Eddy’s words, these are some thoughts from some of the youth in the orchestra:

“I’m going to continue to play music, because I’m inspired by it.”
– Abner Diaz Rodriguez, 15

“I love MYCincinnati. It’s like my second family.”
– Kalla Ervin, 16

“My family thinks it’s spectacular, because you get to make new friends and learn music.”
– Gabriel Santiago, 11

MYCincinnati includes a pre-orchestra for children from Kindergarten to second grade where they learn singing, songwriting, bucket drumming and other foundational skills. This meets for one hour each day from 3 to 4 pm. And its string orchestra program is for youth ages second grade to high school juniors, meeting two hours daily. Following practice, free tutoring and mentoring is offered.

The orchestra performs often in the Price Hill area and in larger Cincinnati venues (many of their performances are free to attend). Please visit their website to see their schedule.

Some additional questions for Eddy:

Lisa:  What impact have you seen on your participants?
Eddy: Imagine sitting through a two hour rehearsal and being completely focused. Doing that every day develops many skills like memory, goal setting, impulse control, values. In a multi cultural learning environment, there are many challenges but our goals and expectations are so clear that no matter their background or where they live, they know that everyone is trying their best to learn and practice for the next concert. One of things I notice most is that kids feel a sense of family and sense of belonging, have more confidence, and are able to communicate better.

Lisa: What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Eddy: To be able to spend time with all of the students every day. I love teaching and working with a large group. The business side of this can be tedious but it is all worth it when I get to work with the kids, and be a part of joyful and loving community. Seven of our 11 original students are still with us which says a lot about our impact.

Before I began this, I didn’t really like kids and think I may have been a little bit afraid of them. They have a way of calling you out or noticing things about your personality and are not afraid to tell you about it. I avoided kids when younger but the more I got to work with them, the more I see them as deep complex human beings.