Delivering Excellence In Music Education
The Wonderful Gift of Music
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“The road to Excellence is always under construction”
– Unknown
Introducing Up With Music
Mission
The mission of Up With Music is to enrich the lives of disadvantaged children in Lawrence by providing music training through violin group classes and performances with the goals of increasing the children’s self-image, building healthy peer relationships, encouraging leadership through mentoring, and building community.
Community Strings
Community Strings Is the primary program of Up With Music, Inc. Current students come from Community Day Charter Public School, Webster, and Gateway Elementary schools as well as other Lawrence high schools.
Short History
In late 1997, Trudy Larson and Marcia Lier (one a musician and the other an art teacher working in Lawrence) discovered they had a shared vision to bring beauty through music into the lives of children in Lawrence, MA. The two teachers decided to establish a pilot strings program at the Community Day Charter School Prospect. The first year, three students signed up. Word quickly spread, and today, the program enriches over 100 children each year at three Charter schools in the city. While the program has grown and expanded in its 20-plus years in Lawrence, the original commitment to encouraging children to experience the joys and healthy challenges of community music-making has remained constant.
Music Education
Small group violin lessons were the beginning for these students. Quickly, larger afterschool groups were created and are now held every Tuesday and Friday. Additional classes meet on Saturday mornings. During the summer, the “Summer Strings” camp brings nationally recognized instructors to Lawrence for a week-long day camp. The camp features fiddling, art, dance, and violin ensemble lessons, plus a wonderful performance at the end of the week for the families and the broader community.
Our program teaches children fundamental life-skills, such as the importance of consistent work and the ensuing payoff, as well as encouraging setting and achieving high goals. The demands of learning to play the violin are made easier as students play together with their peers thus making music rewarding and fun. One of the highlights of this program is the developing sense of community that is fostered in the afterschool program.
Leadership Through Mentoring
Right from the early years, advanced young musicians from neighboring towns joined Trudy Larson and Marcia Lier as mentors in the weekly group classes. Today, more and more of our Lawrence program’s own students have become mentors, thus building leadership skills and inspiring and encouraging the younger musicians. We believe that the unique experience of learning with the support of mentors provides the students with role models for achievement. And the mentors have the opportunity to develop experience that will serve them well in their future.
Community Service - Performance
Playing the violin is made more rewarding experience as student play together for family, friends and special events that enrich the community of Lawrence. Performances not only build character, but also bring people together. Initially, performance opportunities came in the form of biannual concerts presented to family and friends. Over the last several years, however, performance has been expanded into the community, with students playing for Veterans’ Day celebrations, in the St. Patrick’s Day parade, the inauguration of the major, at various nursing homes, and special events in the city.
