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By Amy Reeves When Kika Keith started her daughter, also named Kika, in school, she wanted to give her the best education possible. For Keith, that meant violin lessons from the prestigious Colburn School in their hometown of Los Angeles. But the price of enrollment at Colburn ran as high as some college tuitions, and transportation from South Central L.A. to the downtown campus was a problem. So she did what any mother would do: start a nonprofit organization to give free music instruction to poor kids. All right, so maybe most mothers wouldn't do that, but Keith isn't just any mother. And even she didn't realize quite what she was getting into when Dr. Chan Yo Hun, a violin instructor at Colburn, said that he'd be willing to donate his time if Keith could find more underprivileged kids and arrange a place for the lessons. The first class, in March 1999, included 25 children. By October 2000 there were 60 kids in the program and 100 more on the waiting list, 50 donated violins, a body of 11 instructors in violin, cello, and flute, and a board of prestigious names in music and education in L.A. The students performed at the opening night of the Hollywood Bowl's 2000–01 season and for an event put on by Minority Business magazine that featured President Clinton as keynote speaker. The program is called "Upote Tamu," Swahili for "sweet strings," and it operates under the aegis of the Youth Empowerment Center for Creative Achievement, or YECCA. All this, Keith says, was due to the overwhelming response once word of free violin lessons got out. "When I saw how everybody responded, that was what really made me realize—wow!" she says. "And then when I saw the kids playing, I could really see their spirit. It's become a huge music program, and I would never have thought it." Keith probably isn't the only one who never suspected that South Central L.A., best known for its gangsta rap, would turn out to have so many classical-music buffs. But perhaps they were just waiting to come out of hiding. Local resident Sally Willis says that even before YECCA, her teenaged daughter, Tiffani, wanted a violin so badly she collected bottles and cans until she'd saved enough to buy one at a pawnshop. "She keeps it so nice and shiny. She's always polishing it," Willis says proudly, showing off the gleaming instrument before one of the Sweet Strings classes. "She's fallen asleep with the violin. I've had to take it out of her hands." Keith theorizes that inner-city youth develop such passions partly because classical music has for so long been denied them. "It's like being a kid—your mom says 'Don't do that,' and you're going to be drawn to it," she says. For children with difficult home lives, she adds, the music can also be a respite rather than just extra homework. "There's a girl whose dad is dying," she says. "He's been in a coma and she goes and plays in the hospital. Instead of being at home, bored and with that on her mind, she goes and plays the violin." Dafna Low, the Suzuki instructor who was giving the lesson that Saturday, believes from experience in the power of music to help kids. Always interested in at-risk youth, she stopped giving lessons a few years ago to work as a police officer. Then earlier this year, enlightenment struck. "I realized that none of the kids I arrested were my violin students." Hoping to head off more arrests, Low joined Sweet Strings. She gives free private lessons during the week, and also conducts twice-monthly group classes. On a Fall day, I attend a class she's leading for advanced students. Seventeen children arrive for the class—not bad considering there's a bus strike going on. Although there are a few Asian and Latino kids, most are African-American. They range in age from early elementary school (including little Kika Keith) to high school. Most of them are girls. As Low leads them through a traditional practice of scales and Bach minuets, they sound pretty good for students who've been playing such a short time. They have yet to master shifting or vibrato, but most of them play from memory and are quick to follow Low's instructions on dynamics. Because of the lack of funds, kids have to go through an interview process to get into the program. But that's mainly to make sure they're serious, Keith says; there are no tests. In fact, the main reason kids aren't admitted is that their schools already have music programs. With resources limited, Sweet Strings aims to serve only the neediest children. YECCA gets donations from corporations such as Wells Fargo & Company and Gap Inc., from wealthy persons such as Harry Belafonte and Meryl Streep, and from various foundations. It also has a partnership program with the University of California at Los Angeles. But still the program operates on a shoestring. Many qualified children are on the waiting list, and while instructors like Low are paid for private lessons, the program still relies heavily on volunteerism, with sometimes mixed results. Case in point: this class was supposed to have a UCLA accompanist, but he didn't show up. "If we pay them," Keith points out, "they'll show." Even so, Sweet Strings has expansion plans in the works. In Fall 2000, it was set to add viola, cello, and flute instruction to its violin classes. It was also to start a program called Rites of Passage, a sort of musical version of a Big Brother/Big Sister program in which the older kids are assigned to a musical mentor. Keith says this is necessary because much of the program's 20 percent turnover rate is due to the older kids' distracting desires to socialize with peers who aren't into violin playing. There are also plans to form an orchestra of kids who have come up through the program, and even to branch out into other types of music. To donate money or instruments to YECCA, write to 3870 Crenshaw Blvd., Suite 372, Los Angeles, CA 90008.
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