Youth Church Orchestra Aims to Help Musicians of Color

01For more than two years, Ebony Vasquez searched to find a music teacher of color for her son, Giovanni.

02He is 11 years old and loves to play the violin.

03Now, she has found that teacher at New Hope Presbyterian Church, a Christian religious center near Los Angeles, California.

04Chinita Goodjoin, a black pastor, leads New Hope.

05She started a string orchestra at the church in April to help children of color have a better chance to learn classical music.

06Goodjoin and the orchestra's leaders think it is important for the music teachers to look like their students and share similar life experiences.

07That is why the orchestra's director, Charles Dickerson, and all its music teachers are people of color.

08Dickerson is also the director of the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles, which he founded in 2009.

09After Goodjoin's daughter, Nyla, began playing in that orchestra, Goodjoin decided to build a similar group at her church.

10The church's orchestra now has about 18 members, aged 9 to 20.

11They play the violin, viola, bass, and cello.

12The orchestra accepts all students who want to join.

13Ebony Vasquez says having teachers of color has helped the orchestra members feel like they fit in well.

14It's important they don't feel like outsiders, but are supported and feel like they belong, she said.

15It has definitely helped my son connect more to the music and the craft.

16Her son Giovanni said that in the church orchestra, he could play classical music or popular modern music.

17He values being part of the church orchestra because it's a piece of our community.

18They encourage young musicians of color and everyone gets a chance to play and maybe use it as a stepping stone to get better or even turn this into a career, he said.

19Elizabeth Malthrop is executive director of El Sistema, an international network of music education programs that was founded in Venezuela.

20She said programs like the church orchestra can help students go to life-changing summer music camps, receive college scholarships, and find connections to jobs.

21Goodjoin said she and her husband, Reggie Goodjoin, see a future for the orchestra where African American kids play classical music and play it well.

22Reggie Goodjoin is a jazz musician and the church's music director.

23The group plays a mix of both classical and popular music.

24I like to say they play everything from Bach to Beyonce, added Goodjoin.

25They also learn music by famous African American jazz composers such as Count Basie and Duke Ellington.

26Goodjoin said she believes the church is a great place to start talking about fairness in music.

27Music is freedom, Goodjoin added.

28The pastor is already getting praise from parents.

29One boy who plays the upright bass was about to quit playing because no one in his school orchestra looked like him.

30His mom said that when he came here, the pressure to play and compete was taken off, and that it's a delight to now watch her son light up, feeling a sense of worthiness, she said.

31Dickerson said he started the Los Angeles Orchestra when a group of students told him they wanted to play closer to where they live.

32They would have to drive long distances to be in these orchestras where they didn't know the other kids, he said.

33The young kids from our communities were always put in the back row, and the back row was right next to the door.

34It's easy to walk out that door, he added, when you don't really feel accepted and when you know you're probably not as skilled as the others.

35He added that those other students usually had more music lessons and started playing at a younger age.

36Dickerson said the black church has at times been the only place the African American community could organize services they needed, such as banks and newspapers.

37If we can come together in the church and create a symphonic orchestra, all I can say is all praise to God, he added.

38I'm Andrew Smith.

39And I'm Ana Mateo.