Now in its fourth year, our “Side by Side” string instrument instruction program has expanded to include not only elementary and high school, but middle school students as well. In partnership with Dr. Blondean Davis, superintendent of the Matteson, Illinois, School District 162 (and an AF Chicago board member), this expansion provides continuity and building of musical mastery in a predominantly Black suburb southwest of Chicago. The students performed at the district-wide end-of-year concert on May 8, the culmination of their year of study. Many went on to participate in our new intensive summer camp. Apollo’s Fire provides eight teaching artists, four to five days a week during the school year, instructing 60 students in a special curriculum that artistic director Jeannette Sorrell has designed just for them.
The Side-by-Side program is modeled on the famous orchestra of orphan girls led by composer Antonio Vivaldi in 18th century Venice. Teaching artists play side-by-side with the students, providing a superior and collegial form of training. Teachers and students become a musical family, learning important skills including collaboration, empathic listening, focus, and discipline.
Our program is further inspired by El Sistema, the teaching method of the acclaimed National Children’s Symphony of Venezuela. Famed conductor Gustavo Dudamel was himself trained using this method. El Sistema’s core principles include ensemble-based learning from the beginning; early, frequent, and intensive instruction; peer teaching; and a commitment to keeping the fun in musical learning.
The young music students’ joy of mastery is apparent when they play, as they do before some of our regular season concerts. Advanced students were featured in pre-concert performances of Messiah (in 2022 in Evanston) and the 2023 Nights in Venice concert at the Art Institute downtown. One young scholar, now a college student at Yale, performed a stunning duet with her Apollo’s Fire teacher and addressed the audience about the importance of a music education.
In a separate outreach this past spring, musicians from our ¡Hispania! program provided a free all-school educational program at the dual-language St. Procopius elementary school in Chicago. Students learned about violins, guitars, and storytelling in song while connecting with their own musical culture. Performers in this engaging and enriching program were Puerto Rican vocalist and Chicago native Sophia Burgos, flamenco guitarist Jeremìas Garcia, and Apollo’s Fire’s lead violinist Emi Tanabe. The students were entranced.
With your support, we can continue to expand both kinds of educational outreach—long-term string instruction programs and shorter-term interactive assemblies in local schools, some of which may lack the resources to provide these opportunities on their own. We look forward to continuing our partnership with, and support of, existing community resources in our efforts to bring the joy of music to children and families throughout the Chicago area.