Join Us In Building A Bright Future for Our Student Musicians
Two years ago, Camerata Del Sol musicians put our heads together to address one of the most pressing issues within Las Cruces' classical music scene: A lack of early childhood music education. As professional musicians, we know that most string players who succeed in this field begin their musical training from an age as young as 4 or 5 years old. Unfortunately, in our small city, the opportunities to start an instrument at such a young age are few and far between. Many students are unable to pursue music until 6th grade, when it is offered in their public school music programs, and they face long and hard battles to "catch up" to young musicians in larger cities who had more opportunities provided to them.
We are happy to report that for two years strong, we have been doing our part to rectify this problem by teaching free after-school music classes at University Hills Elementary, a Title I school near New Mexico State University. From learning how to count and conduct, to playing on buckets, to finally playing on tiny string instruments, over fifty students have benefitted from our early music education curriculum thus far.
One of our students, Roma, shared what she has gained from learning music in our program:
"Learning music is fun. It builds my confidence and relieves my stress. Music is also a language that expresses my emotions and mood."
As we enter our third year of instruction at University Hills, one of our major goals is to be able to offer subsidized private lessons to the graduates of our program. Access to private lessons is not only beneficial to each student's musical development, but also strengthens the public middle school orchestra programs that they enter. This year, we are raising money to support seven University Hills graduates.
In August, we set a goal to raise $5,000 to support these students through Camerata Del Sol scholarships, and thanks to your generosity, we've already raised over $3,000. We know that we can raise the final $2,000 with your help.
To donate via check instead of online, please send it to:
Camerata Del Sol
C/O Amalia Zeitlin
400 Bason Dr.
Las Cruces, NM 88005