2018-2019 Annual Report (PDF)
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ANNUAL REPORT 2018-2019 A COMMITMENT TO OUR MISSION Education Through Music-Los Angeles (ETM-LA) provides and promotes music education in under-resourced school communities as a part of the core curriculum to enhance students’ academic achievement, creativity, and overall development. 2018-2019 Annual Report | 2 IN-SCHOOL MUSIC EDUCATION PROGRAMS Education Through Music-Los Angeles provides each partner school with weekly music classes on a yearlong basis. These classes provide a variety of musical disciplines including violin, viola, cello, ukulele, guitar, recorder, general music, band, music technology, songwriting and chorus. Each school’s program is tailored to meet the needs of their specific population based on the vision of the principal with guidance from an ETM-LA supervisor or mentor. In the 2018-2019 school year, students at all partner schools performed in concerts to showcase their musical learning in the fall and spring semesters. ETM-LA also expanded its reach across Los Angeles County to provide approximately 15,000 students in 36 low-income area schools with top-notch music education. 2018-2019 Annual Report | 3 O U R P A R T N E R S C H O O L S Our reach encompassed six school districts: Bellflower, Burbank, Compton, Inglewood, Los Angeles, and Pasadena Unified. On-site support, curriculum development, professional development, parent workshops, and ongoing guidance from multiple staff members including the Executive Director, Program Directors, Music Educators, and Instructional Supervisors were key components implemented to ensure continued growth and excellence. 100% of our partner schools in 2018-19 were Title 1 schools which on average served a population in which 85% of the students were on the Free or Reduced Price Lunch Program. Furthermore, ETM-LA provided support services to 4 additional schools utilizing the ETM model: Emerson Elementary, Horace Mann Early Child Center, Roosevelt Elementary, and West Hollywood Elementary. 15,000 36 students schools 2018-2019 Annual Report | 4 Victoria Lanier A NOTE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Photo: KPCC As the world “becomes smaller” and people connect globally through networks, social media, and online platforms, we are seeing robust sharing of knowledge, cultures, and ideas in more ways than ever before. This era presents us with lightning speed access to data and new forms of learning and technology with the mantra that faster, bigger, and having a “wider reach” are virtues by which we should operate. Yet, through the pursuit of interconnectedness, how are we nurturing the true need and innate desire for children (and adults alike) to make a deep, personal, and lasting connection with others? It is through music that we can find such meaningful relationships. Music’s power to transcend generations, cultures, and geographies is evidenced all around us. It creates bridges across diverse communities and time periods by which we as a humanity can experience shared moments of elation, melancholy, love, and jubilation. From the Beatles to Beethoven, film soundtracks to live concerts, country to hip-hop, we are able to find something that allows us to connect on a deeper level. However, the study of this common, universal language in schools continues to remain tenuous at best and needlessly dependent on the continuing evidence of its inherent merit. Education Through Music-LA seeks to provide a comprehensive solution which includes restoring high-quality instruction back into disadvantaged local schools while advocating for music as a core subject and a right of each student. For it is through learning music – diving deep in its multi-cultural roots and heritages, diaspora, and theory - and discovery of one’s personal and collective voice that students gain such life skills as empathy, communication, and openness towards new ideas and perspectives. Students take musical risks in exploring new sounds: how altering one simple note in a chord can drastically change the mood from melancholic to triumphant, how tempo and dynamics affect what the artist is trying to convey, and how each ensemble member’s individual contributions impact the whole group. It is here where they learn to make real connections. We are grateful to you and each of our dedicated champions who continue to further our mission. In just the last three years alone, Education Through Music-LA has been able to double our reach. Your partnership enables more students in our local communities to benefit from the positive, lasting outcomes which music provides. As children learn to listen critically, to analyze sound, and to build new modes of expression, they are acquiring tools that will help them relate better to others. In turn, they have greater opportunity to develop into mature, thoughtful leaders who are able to broaden their understanding of themselves, others, and the world around them. The world just got smaller. Victoria Lanier, Executive Director 2018-2019 Annual Report | 5 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPING QUALITY MUSIC EDUCATORS Rigorous professional development and continued training are paramount to the success of the music education programs. Over 100 hours of professional development and training were provided to each ETM-LA music teacher to improve instruction and student outcomes. This included our quarterly trainings and site visits, as well as an intensive Summer Training Institute (August 14-15/19-21, 2019) for new and returning music teachers and guest artists and educators. ETM-LA provided deeper opportunities for music teachers to receive certifications in pedagogical areas including Kodály, Orff, and Suzuki. Our annual Principals Leadership Conference was held on January 24, 2019 with a focus on building sustainability. In addition, ETM-LA offered workshops to both classroom teachers and parents on: • Building vocabulary, expression, joy, and teamwork through music. • The value of teaching music inside and outside the academic classroom. • How to make connections across the curriculum and reinforce skills and content through musical instruction. MAY 2018-2019 Annual Report | 6 2018 - 2019 ETM-LA YEAR IN REVIEW SEP 9 2018 SEPSEP 29 2018 Acclaimed Violinist and Educator Martin Beaver and Pianist HyeJin Kim gave 7th Annual Keep the Music Playing Event, a private soirée and concert benefiting an intimate recital of Beethoven, Stravinsky, and Ravel at the La Crescenta ETM-LA, featured special guests Courtney Reed, Gabrielle Ruiz, Kelley Jakle, Eric Presbyterian Church in Glendale to raise funds for ETM-LA. Thomas Petersen, Karen David, Kate Flannery, and Anthony Evans. NOV 29 2018 DEC 4 2018 A special screening of First Man was held at the Leonard Nimoy Horizon Theatre ETM-LA held its 13th Annual Benefit Gala at The Novo-Microsoft Theater in at Griffith Observatory, featuring an exclusive Q&A panel of First Man filmmakers Downtown Los Angeles, honoring Grammy-Winning Producer Sebastian Krys, to promote STEAM initiatives in education. Veteran Music Teacher Sue Edwards (L.A. Unified), and KORG Education. 2019 MAR13-14 APR 23 2019 ETM-LA hosted its 9th Annual Music Unites the World Festival at the Skirball Academy Award Winning Composer Justin Hurwitz makes a follow-up visit to the Cultural Center as part of Music In Our Schools Month® (National Association music tech lab at McKinley Elementary School in Compton. for Music Education) with nearly 1,000 people in attendance. Photo By: Carlo Godoy MAY 3-4 2019 JUNE 18 2019 Silent Films Live II was an encore to the hugely successful 2016 fundraiser, Students from ETM-LA partner schools return to the Staples Center to perform and it out-performed the previous event by a mile, featuring brand new scores an original song at the LA Sparks’ halftime show. for classic silent films by highly-acclaimed artists/composers. MUSIC UNITES THE WORLD On March 13th and 14th, 2019, ETM-LA hosted its 9th Annual Music Unites the World Festival at the Skirball Cultural Center as part of Music In Our Schools Month® (National Association for Music Education). Nearly 1,000 people were in attendance to perform songs from around the world, including approximately 700 students from 32 of ETM-LA’s partner schools across Los Angeles County. Students worked with celebrity guest artists and music educators including Siddhartha Khosla, Rickey Minor, Ricardo Hurtado, Julie West, Juan Rodriguez, Julie Corallo, Misha Shtangrud, Diane Simons, and Richard Medrano. Other special guests and speakers included Baraka May, Cathleen Cher, Joe Kraemer, Cynthyny Lebo, and ETM-LA Board Chair Booker White. Hurtado, whom the awestruck students immediately recognized as Freddy from the Nickelodeon hit TV series School of Rock, shared a heartfelt performance onstage at the festival, creating a truly unique experience for all the students. GUEST ARTISTS Justin Hurwitz On April 23, 2019, Academy Award-Winning Composer Justin Hurwitz (La La Land, First Man) returned to McKinley Elementary in Compton to work with the 7th grade students on their composition projects as part of the music technology lab. Rickey Minor In June 2019, Advisory Board member Rickey Minor (Emmy Award-Winning Music Director, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, American Idol), spent three days at Rio Vista Elementary, McKinley Elementary, and Castelar Elementary schools providing high-quality music instruction to our young students. Rickey led each of the classes through warm-ups and led a hands-on instrumental lesson. The children were excited to play with Rickey, who also shared his own musical journey. 2018-2019 Annual Report | 9 Education Through Music-LA’s 13th ANNUAL GALA On December 4, 2018, ETM-LA hosted its 13th Annual Benefit Gala at The Novo- Microsoft Theater in Downtown Los Angeles to raise funds for music instruction in disadvantaged LA County schools. Supporters from the music, film, business, and education communities gathered to honor Grammy-Winning Music Producer Sebastian Krys (Elvis Costello, La Santa Cecilia), Veteran Music Teacher Sue Edwards (L.A. Unified), and KORG Education. Grammy Award-Winning artist La Santa Cecilia and Sheila E.