“When my child plays the violin, it speaks to my heart and soul, and reminds me that here in this great county, nothing is impossible.”
– Mother of a student in the Side-by-Side program
It’s 11am on September 3. A tall, skinny young man carrying a violin case and a friendly fellow lugging a cello walk into Sauk Elementary School. A 10-yr-old child runs up to them and gives them a hug. “Hey Mr. Dylan, I missed you this summer!” “Hi Mr. Chad, that’s a cool new cello case!”
Soon the classroom is full of children excitedly unpacking their string instruments.
“Oh Mr. Dylan, look, I need a new E string!”
“Mr. Chad will you help me tune my cello?”
“Mr. Dylan, are we going to listen to Beethoven’s 5th today? That’s my favorite.”
These are the children of our SIDE BY SIDE String Program – a partnership between Matteson School District 162 and Apollo’s Fire. The program is starting its 4th year, now including over 70 students at 4 elementary schools, 1 middle school, and the renowned Southland College Prep Charter High School. And it’s a kind of miracle.
Have you ever been to Matteson?
Superintendent of Matteson School District 162
Dr. Davis knows what she’s talking about. A nationally recognized educational leader, she was inducted into the Illinois Black Hall of Fame in 2022. She has been changing the lives of Illinois students for 5 decades. She is the founder of Southland College Prep Charter High School, the only charter high school to earn the state’s highest designation of “exemplary.” The school has a 100% college acceptance rate, and several of its alums are now at Ivy League schools – on full scholarships.
Dr. Davis wanted a string program. So, Apollo’s Fire gave her one. The SIDE BY SIDE program, designed by Jeannette Sorrell, is modeled on the famous youth orchestra of orphan girls led by composer Antonio Vivaldi in the 18th century. Apollo’s Fire teaching artists play side-by-side with the students, so the teachers and students become a kind of musical family. The repertoire, chosen by Jeannette and the teaching artists, is mainly baroque pieces and traditional/historical folk melodies from various world cultures, including African American spirituals.
Meet Haley, a viola student. [See video below, where Haley plays a stunning Bach duet with her teacher, the amazing Eric Gratz.] Despite huge challenges from the outside world, Haley was the valedictorian of her class at Southland. Now she is at Yale, on full scholarship. She loves playing Mozart in the university orchestra. But you will probably see her one day as an anchor person on the TV news. (That’s Jeannette’s prediction.)
You may recall our other high school students, who have appeared three times in “Prelude Performances” at Apollo’s Fire concerts in Chicago and Evanston. Last year, when they opened for the AF concert at the Art Institute, their professionalism was mentioned by the critic of Chicago Classical Review in his glowing review of the concert. But what the critic didn’t know was that two of the students practiced their instruments backstage straight through the dinner break before the concert.
“It was a crowded backstage scene,” says Jeannette. “There were Subway sandwiches everywhere. But Tyson and Shawn couldn’t be bothered with sandwiches. They had more important things to do – practicing a 17th-century fiddle tune called Bellamira.”
Our program also takes inspiration from the El Sistema method – the music-education program that has transformed the lives of hundreds of underprivileged children in Venezuela. Gustavo Dudamel, the renowned conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, got his start in El Sistema. He has said, “music saved my life…like food, like health care, like education, music must be a right for every citizen.”
Senior Teaching Artist
When Eric arrived at Southland in spring of 2022, he quickly inspired and transformed the students. They listened to Eric play, and wanted to play like him. Now they bring passion and commitment to music such as Vivaldi’s Winter Concerto, a sinfonia by the esteemed Black composer Florence Price, a Japanese fantasia, and African American spirituals.
“When I recruited Eric to be our Senior Teaching Artist in Residence, I feared he might only stay for a year,” said Jeannette. “He’s a concert violinist with a national career. But he’s now been with us 2.5 years. That tells you how special these students are. And how special Dr. Davis’ leadership is.”
This string program costs over $100,000 per year. How is Matteson 162 paying for it? “With difficulty,” says Dr. Davis. “We are used to pulling off miracles. Not a penny is wasted. But how can this program continue after this year? I ask myself this every night. We urgently need donations from the arts-loving community.”
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to the SIDE BY SIDE program, please click the DONATE button below, and choose “Side by Side Strings/Matteson” from the drop-down menu on the PayPal screen. 100% of your donation will go to this program.
Thank you for believing in us. We can’t wait for you to hear our students this year!