Pass the Music On

Miami Music Project’s Pass it On Program Gifts Instruments to Kids in Need

‘Tis the Season for giving. You know it; I know it; we all know it. The shops are mad with folks scurrying to find just the right gift for their friends and their family. Some strange folks are even picking up special somethings for their foes. And each and every time another cash register sounds its ring-a-ding-ding, the rich are getting just a little bit richer, and someone else is slated receive something they probably don’t need.

So what to do? You can write a check or make an online donation to this charity or that cause (and that’s okay). But does licking a stamp or clicking a tab really make you feel connected? Since even the most reputable charities rarely provide charts that show where each dollar flows, there’s no real way to tell where your money goes anyway. And wouldn’t you rather be able to experience the effects of your largesse?

Of course you would. Now I’m not advocating you stop supporting your favorite charity – not by a longshot. But I would like to bring your attention to a bold new program that’ll undoubtedly remove any disconnect you may have felt in the past. In fact, it’ll not only allow you to see right where your money goes, but it’ll give you an opportunity to witness the benefits you’ve bestowed – up close and personal.

I’m talking about the Miami Music Project’s Pass it On program, which will put new and/or gently used instruments into the hands of kids who really need them. Or, as MMP Board Member Emil Stefanutti so simply states: “It’s a chance to take an old instrument and change a kid’s life.”

Think about it: All around town there are scores and scores of instruments gathering dust in somebody’s closet. Maybe they were yours when you thought the cello was gonna be your claim to fame. Or perhaps they belonged to your own kid when he or she believed they’d make a life for themselves in the symphony. Now imagine if those instruments all fell into the hands of children who not only couldn’t afford them, but who’ve shown a natural aptitude for music, and who’d be eternally grateful to you for giving them a chance to show the world what they can do.

Now this isn’t some fly-by-night version of band camp; this is a serious, studious set-up that has the potential to resound for decades to come.  See the instruments are used by MMP’s Orchestral Academy, which bases its  philosphy in part on Venezuela’s El Sistema program. Wiki says El Sistema has enabled “250,000 children [to] attend music schools around [that] country, 90 percent of them from poor socio-economic backgrounds.” It also now “includes some 30 symphony orchestras.”

Founded in 1975 by Venezuelan economist and musician José Antonio Abreu and formerly known as Social Action for Music, El Sistema has introduced millions of children to music, and in the process it has become the kinda incredible success story of which movies are made. As a matter of fact two award-winning documentaries have already been made – Tocar y Luchar (“Play and Fight” 2004) and El Sistema (2009). CBS’s 60 Minutes has sung its praises too.

There’s good reason for that. According to Miami Symphony Orchestra Maestro Eduardo Marturet, El Sistema “has proven to be revolutionary around the world as a valid and quick way to learn [music], and it’s especially effective in countries with a large population of underprivileged kids. And while that’s not the case here [in the U.S.], there is a need, and El Sistema fills it wonderfully.”

Marturet should know. He and MSO sponsor the Allapattah Children and Youth Symphony, which has done much to put El Sistema on Miami’s map. Coincidentally, Allapattah is run by MMP’s Miami Orchestral Academy director Susan Siman, who happens to be a violinist with MSO, and who spent three years studying and working under Abreu himself. As Academy director, it is Siman who’ll basically oversee the initiative, and it is she who will guide the best and the brightest of those who’ve benefitted from its implementation.

In this case, many of the best and the brightest will come from Little Haiti, where MMP has teamed with the Little Haiti Cultural Center to launch a comprehensive after-school program that will bring kids into the Academy. Already a fixture throughout the Miami-Dade County Schools system (their in-school programs include mentoring, residencies and other initiation classes), MMP is fast-becoming the go-to organization for all components of music education, be it in school or out. And the results speak for themselves. Last year MMP reached 4000 local children, and it sent seven of those kids to Italy to perform with the International Orchestra for Peace.

MMP’s next big bash will be in May, at the Arsht Center, which will be hosting the Miami Music Project Festival. And the event will feature the kids they’ve nurtured into bona fide musicians. Many of those kids will be performing before an audience for the very first time. Wouldn’t it be cool if one or two of them could do so because of you?

This Christmas, really give the gift of music. It just may change a child’s life.

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Category: COVER