Photo by Mieke Strand
The San Francisco Community Music Center has been doing great things for the community, from the youngest to the elderly. To understand just how the Center's education program works, we turned to somebody who is well familiar with the matter, CMC Development Associate Tamara Bock, asking her to give an example:
For eight-year-old violin student Loren Gigi, the Center is more than a place to learn how to play an instrument. It is a place that has taught her to truly appreciate music, not to give up, and to set goals.Loren hopes one day to join a good orchestra so she can travel the world making music. To prepare, she studies violin with Sin-Tung Chiu at the CMC Richmond District Branch.
After only two years of study with Sin-Tung, Loren soloed at CMC’s Spring Gala at the SFJAZZ Center last May, where she brought down the house with her poised performance of Allegro by Fiocco. Loren has also participated in Sin-Tung’s violin ensemble in performances with the CMC Children’s Choir. One day soon she hopes to audition for the Junior Bach Festival.
Loren is a third-grader at Jefferson Elementary School. Being still small in size she plays on a half-size violin and bow, which Sin-Tung helped select for her. Loren has two one-hour lessons each week with Sin-Tung and she sometimes increases to four lessons during school breaks. She also participates in Sin-Tung’s violin ensemble class, which meets once a week for one hour.
Dedication and curiosity are ignited when students are paired with the right teacher: “Mr. Chiu tells me the secrets that help me play more beautifully. I also enjoy very much the music he teaches me,” says Loren.
The combination of a good teacher and a supportive family makes for a rewarding musical experience. Says Sin-Tung, “I am struck by the deep love of music and the intense devotion to learning music properly from the Gigi family.”
Loren’s mother, Oxana, plays a big role in helping Loren to prepare for her classes and believes that it is important to expose children to music and all things good. Loren is one of many students at CMC who benefit from financial assistance. Thanks to generous donors like you, CMC steadfastly maintains its original mission to make music accessible to everyone.
And from there, Bock fluently segues into a holiday pitch for a good cause: "Make your year-end gift today to make sure that more students like Loren have access to a quality music education."