Q the Music at Ruskin
September 19, 2012
Contact: Jill Moberley, Public Information Officer
For Immediate Release
This year, musicians from the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra are staying after school. But they won’t be alone; they will be joined by 25 third grade Ruskin Elementary students. It’s all part of DPO’s Q the Music, an after-school program in partnership with the East End Community Center and Dayton Public Schools.
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Ruskin students are excited to take part in Q the Music, a new collaborative afterschool program that partners Dayton Public Schools with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and East End Community Center. |
“This is not only a music education program, it’s a program for social change,” explained DPO Education Director Gloria Pugh. “The idea is to grow the whole child. This program gives them the opportunity to work as a group and learn what working in a group means to achieve excellence and to become a positive citizen.”
Q the Music is based on El Sistema, a music education movement that began in Venezuela in 1975, and is picking up tempo throughout the U.S. by orchestras and other arts organizations. Its mission is to be an instrument for social change allowing students to work together as a musical team. The after-school program allows students to experience the joy and fun of music-making.
Beginning Sept. 17, Q the Music will provide string instruments – violin, cello, viola – to third grade students at Ruskin PreK-8 School who sign up for the after-school program. The five-day-a-week program includes daily academic tutoring, a nutritious snack, classes on music theory, and group musical instruction by DPO musicians. The program is tuition-free and has received funding from Fifth Third Bank and The Iddings Foundation as well as private donors.
“We’re teaching each student to play their instrument, then they will come together to play as a group,” Pugh added. “Then next year, we grow the program by bringing in new third graders as this year’s group continues on as fourth graders.”
“Q the Music is an excellent example of how community partners like the Dayton Philharmonic can enrich the lives of students, Dayton Public Schools Superintendent Lori L. Ward said. “From our instrument drives to the opportunities made possible for these budding musicians, we are so pleased to see this program come to fruition. We know that music education can contribute to students’ academic performance as well.”
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