Held together by the strings

Music has been a part of Ruth's world since he began playing violin at age 5 in his hometown of Ithaca, N.Y. He says there is a "problem with classical music and how elitist it can be." Lessons and instruments are expensive, and music requires lots of family support to take root. "There's the monetary expense, but also a problem of limited access. You have to have a parent who is dedicated to music, who will drive you places and give you input at home. If a parent is working multiple jobs, this is impossible."

Extended-family recitals

Through Community MusicWorks, music extends far beyond the classroom. The students give recitals every other month at 'performance parties,' where families gather for potluck multicultural feasts representing the city's ethnic communities: Haitian, Dominican, Hmong, Laotian, Guatemalan, to name just a few.

Ken Goode, program director at West End Community Center, raves about the parties. "They're packed. You've got to get there early or you don't get a seat," he says. "They go beyond just being a concert; they're a family gathering."

Guest workshops show music's role outside the classroom and have featured jazz combos, a blues pianist, and a musician playing the didgeridoo, a traditional instrument of Australian Aborigines.

Ruth emphasizes that Community MusicWorks is not simply an outreach program.

"There are a lot of symphonies that say: 'Here are some concert tickets' and that's it.... We're not a quartet that goes into a community and then leaves. We can ... provide support so that music becomes the relationship between people who otherwise wouldn't know each other."

As Community MusicWorks has grown, so has the neighborhoods' involvement. The company has a board of directors that includes Brown University educators, local musicians, parents, and Marconi, who is now in his third year of violin lessons.

Educators Ted Sizer of Brown and Maxine Greene of Columbia University's Teachers College provided Ruth with early guidance. In addition, a board of directors mentored him in grant writing, drafting by-laws, fundraising, and other fundamentals of running a nonprofit organization.

Janis Johnson, a South Providence native who joined the board in February, says this is her first involvement with a committee. But the organizational duties are well worth the chance to see a recital by her 10-year-old granddaughter Jan-Delle.

"When I see her on stage, I'm overwhelmed," she says. "I wanted to play violin [when I was a child], but my mother couldn't afford it. Inner-city kids don't get the chance to play violin."

Deborah Wyatt, executive director of West End Community Center, recalls her satisfaction when she saw kids and parents dressed up for the Boston Philharmonic.

"Sebastian [Ruth] and Minna [Choi] are committed to bringing a new resource to a group of people who might never have had the experience," she says. "They're showing the kids that, whether classical or pop, music is not something segregated for 'those' people."

Ms. Wyatt is so taken with Community MusicWorks that she hopes to include a music room and more lessons in a planned expansion of the center.

"Now I'm just waiting for them to offer adult lessons," she says, laughing.

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Monitor

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