{"id":2515,"date":"2015-08-27T12:00:30","date_gmt":"2015-08-27T19:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=2515"},"modified":"2015-08-28T13:28:28","modified_gmt":"2015-08-28T20:28:28","slug":"st-louis-classical-guitar-society-takes-on-education-and-racial-strife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/st-louis-classical-guitar-society-takes-on-education-and-racial-strife\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Louis Classical Guitar Society Takes on Education\u2014and Racial Strife"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"SLCGS\"
Students from the Normandy High School guitar class with William Ash, SLCGS president; Adam Yanick, t HS guitar instructor; Dale Larsen, SLCGS board member; Rod Kerner, SLCGS board member; and Duane Foster, fine arts leader, Normandy School Collaborative.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

HONOR ROLL<\/h3>\n

by Stephanie Powell<\/em><\/p>\n

Ferguson, Missouri, has been the scene of considerable racial strife over the past year since the shooting of an unarmed African-American teen, Michael Brown, by a white Ferguson police officer. The St. Louis Classical Guitar Society <\/a>(SLCGS)<\/strong> is determined to help make a difference in that troubled community.<\/p>\n

In January, the society launched Phase One of the Ferguson Guitar Initiative, a program that unites teachers, students, and SLCGS volunteers to bring classical-guitar music and learning to the schools. This year, SLCGS also became the recipient of a National Endowment of the Arts grant, which will be used to bring world-class acts to schools in the St. Louis area. Benefits from the grant already have reached Normandy High School\u2014which Michael Brown attended\u2014a school full of students who can really use this type of support, SLCGS president William Ash stresses.<\/p>\n

The third-longest-standing guitar society in the United States, the SLCGS was established in 1963. The organization carried itself through the \u201970s by bringing world-renowned performers to the self-proclaimed Gateway to the West\u2014the group\u2019s performance history includes such esteemed classical-guitar greats as Julian Bream, Christopher Parkening, and the Romeros.<\/p>\n

In more recent times, however, there has been a shift in the society\u2019s philosophy, Ash says, namely an increased emphasis on education and advocacy. Today, SLCGS supports 16 schools in the Normandy-Ferguson school district in various ways.<\/p>\n

I spoke to Ash about the society\u2019s desire to tackle education, and its role in the world of classical guitar.
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How do you think classical guitar fits into the St. Louis music scene?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It adds a very important complement to more traditional music presentations\u2014the symphony here is world-renowned. I think a group like ours adds an alternative classical-music experience. For many people, it\u2019s a great window into the wider world of classical music.<\/p>\n

What caused SLCGS to shift toward an education-focused approach?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

We started in 2010 asking donors to give us money so we could buy guitars for the schools for guitar programs.<\/p>\n

Now, we are actually providing a teacher to the schools in a more structured learning environment by using guitarcurriculum.com<\/strong><\/a> from Austin Classical Guitar. It was mostly just becoming more aware of the need and the opportunity\u2014we saw that the kids could really benefit from it. The level of commitment grew when we realized how much good we could be doing. It gave us a much larger outreach and a more important role in the community.<\/p>\n

And how has that changed over the past five years?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s just becoming wider and deeper\u2014our feelings are being reaffirmed every time we see a program started or expand, and it just makes me feel more committed to it personally. I found that a lot of people in [SLCGS] felt the same way I did.<\/p>\n

What has the reaction been to Phase One of the Ferguson Guitar Initiative?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Very positive. These programs are working just beautifully in the schools that we are in. The fine arts directors, the teachers, and the administrators are just thrilled to have it. We need to get more word out to our own community. [We have] plans to expand into six more schools in the near future\u2014contingent on getting the funding to continue it.<\/p>\n

Has it been well received with the students?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Absolutely\u2014they really relate to the guitar. There are more kids that would like to take guitar than we can accommodate\u2014so we are giving classes up to about 15 [students]. The interest is always very high. We\u2019re really reaching a whole [new] group of kids and we\u2019re actually strengthening the music culture in a given school because it\u2019s adding another dimension to it without taking away from what they are already doing.<\/p>\n

Why Ferguson?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Well, there\u2019s a couple of ways to look at it. Even before the Michael Brown incident last summer, we had talked with the fine arts director about [the school\u2019s] interest in having a guitar program. When I contacted him, he was very much in favor of it, but they had absolutely no money at all.<\/p>\n

So we set it on the back burner because it was just one of the many conversations I had been having with administrators, but after Michael Brown, a question that popped up in my mind repeatedly was: What can we do to help the situation in Ferguson as an arts group? And it just seemed that the most natural thing to do was to support activities for kids in the schools. So I approached him again. In the meantime in July, just a month prior [to the Michael Brown shooting], we had this seminar from the Austin Group at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, which is just three minutes away from downtown Ferguson. And, so, we had this new curriculum that people were excited about.<\/p>\n

These two strands of thinking just came together all of the sudden\u2014we had a program that we really wanted to get started in St. Louis\u2014and with all of the things that happened in Ferguson and with the prior interest expressed, it just seemed natural to go back. So, I showed Douglas Irwin, the fine arts director of the district, the curriculum and he immediately said that he would love to have it.<\/p>\n

As an organization, we wanted to be a part of the solution and not just ignore what was going on there.<\/p>\n

I was able to apply to the Augustine Foundation\u2014it was very, very close to the deadline, like two days beforehand\u2014I made an impassioned plea to get this special application in to them in addition to what they would have originally given us, and they said yes.<\/p>\n

So, through our art we\u2019re trying to support kids in a district who have been underserved in so many ways. I think these programs can help give them an element of what they have been missing\u2014something they can be excited about. It\u2019s not like they have no music programs in the schools, but we are serving kids that aren\u2019t already enrolled in the music programs, and so it strengthens the music culture in the schools.<\/p>\n

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