Violin Lesson | LEFT: Students are getting prepared for a violin lesson.(photo by Shunqi Lin)
The Classroom | MIDDLE:A classroom can have five to eight students for a group class. (photo by Shunqi Lin)
The stairs | RIGHT: Photos of current students and alumni are shown inside the school building. (photo by Shunqi Lin)
A closer look at the Neighborhood Music School
Neighborhood Music School (NMS) administrator Wendy Kikkert gives an introduction of the school's music class. Take a look at its violin and guitar lessons, where kids are having a lot of fun.
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By Shunqi Lin
As the iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall in Downtown Los Angeles anticipating its 10 year anniversary in 2014, a music school only 10 minutes drive east of the performing center is excited about their centennial celebration.
Established in 1914, the Neighborhood Music School provides high quality and affordable music education to the people of Boyle Heights and the Los Angeles Area. Students can come to learn music instruments including piano, violin, guitar, and cello.
Every day from Tuesday to Saturday, music will flood the beautiful Victorian house in East LA, where the school is located. Students come in with the passion for music in their eyes, parents waiting outside, chatting and smiling. The atmosphere is what the administer Wendy Kikkert called “a belonging to a family”.
“I have parents tell me that they love coming here, feel like it’s a safe and beautiful place. It’s a sense of belonging,” said Kikkert, “When you come here, it’s not like being in an institution, but you have a real home, environment where people care about you.”
The school now has more than 250 students, while most of them come from the community, some others drive thirty minutes all the way to the school, so that their kids can have high-quality music education. “I like the fact that each kid gets their education independently here. Other programs that I visited, they are just in places like big garage, storage, where everybody practices in the same place. I love this school,” said Sandra Magana. Her daughter has been learning violin for two and a half years.
Another reason why Magana loves about the school is the affordable tuition. A 30-minute private lesson costs 16 dollars, nearly 50 percent cheaper than other music institutions. “We want to make sure that everyone who wants to be able to study music can. In Boyle Heights that’s really important because most school don’t have music,” said Kikkert. To better help the students, the school holds audition twice a year for kids who want to apply for a scholarship. “We try to help as much as we can. Every child should learn some music.”
Bernard Leon cannot agree more. 21-year old Leon came to the music school since he was only 4. He learned both violin and piano. Now he works as the office manager, continuing his love for the music school. “My teachers here have made me a more complete person because they taught me how to improvise off music, ” said Leon, “When you sit down on an instrument, and you use that to release your emotions, then that’s the most important part that I got out of music.”
As the office manager, Leon is in charge of the promotion of school. He started to use social media tools to let more people know about the school. Their Facebook page has reached nearly 770 likes. “In the past people come to us because of ‘word of mouth’, but now they get to know us from Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.”
The school is also playing an increasingly important role in the community. Alongside with the music education, it also hosts movie nights and field trips to serve the community.“The school is now perceived as a place where people in the community can come for fun events and hang out,” said Kikkert, “We also get the chance to play in the community. We had students perform at the 100 year anniversary of Hollenbeck High School weeks ago.” In the upcoming June.1, the school will host the 2nd Annual East LA Community Festival.
The social media and increased exposure in the community also help the school attract good teachers. Most of the instructors in the school are experienced music performers themselves. Dave Cipriani teaches guitar in the school. “It’s a great place. Kids here generally work hard. That’s what I love the most,” said Cipriani. The school also has teachers graduating from USC, UCLA and Cal State. “It’s a combination of work,” said Leon, “Students come to us because we have a long history and good reputation, and these all because we have good staff and teachers. On the other hand, we see teachers come here because they value our good students.”
The school is working on raising more money so it can renovate the century-old building so that kids can have a better environment to pursue their music dream. It is also in hope of building a new parking structure to meet a growing number of students.
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