John Hollywood had been teaching his students in the Music Partnership Program for nearly a year when he noticed something unusual about one of the students.
“Mateo did not enjoy flipping over to the next page in the book quite as much as the other students,” said Hollywood. The method book they were using seemed to work with many of the students at the Hollywood Boys & Girls Club who showed visible signs of pride at the progress they were making practicing from the book. But Mateo did not seem interested.
So, Hollywood pivoted.
“I transcribed his favorite song “Count on Me” by Bruno Mars, for him to play for the recital,” said Hollywood. They worked on the song during the lessons, and Hollywood started improvising with his young student. “One day I said to Mateo, ‘why don’t we make up a song together?’ I suggested he try inventing a melody using only the black keys on the piano, and he came up with a beautiful kernel of a melody.” Hollywood added accompaniment, and they began composing a new song.
Now in its thirtieth year, the Music Partnership Program is a vital part of The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music’s community engagement programs. The program is supported entirely through generous philanthropy, including support from the Herb Alpert Foundation, and extends to two partner sites—the Boys & Girls Club of Hollywood and the UCLA Community School RFK.
Students from The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music commute to partner sites to provide private lessons for students in instruments such as percussion, harp, flute, piano, and guitar. Because resources can be a challenge, the school of music often provides these instruments for students to use.
“The cuts to arts education in public schools over the past two decades have been severe,” said Eileen Strempel, inaugural dean of The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. “While we have to get the arts back into public schools, it makes it all the more critical that we provide young people with real exposure to quality music instruction. We are committed to continuing our partnership program.”
For UCLA students, the commitment to providing partnership instruction is substantial. Students make weekly classroom visits to partner schools and must design a music education experience for students, many of whom have never had music instruction before. This transition, from being an advanced music student to a teacher of beginners, is its own challenge. UCLA students have to plan lessons, make pedagogical decisions and develop classroom management skills.
No matter how good the preparation, there are always unexpected curveballs.
“It was challenging to get young students to read music on a staff,” said Rin Homma, a second-year music performance major. “I tried using diagrams, different key words and associations with recital pieces, but it really didn’t work. In the end, it was more productive to give students extra practice on the keyboard. And the students worked hard, showing great development in finger dexterity, learning their scales, and being able to describe the music they were playing.”
The Music Partnership Program traces its roots to 1994, when the music department (now the Department of Music Performance, Education, and Composition) listed as one of its highest priorities the recruitment of inner-city high school students. In order to do so, the department needed to counter the false notion among inner-city high school students that college education at a selective school like UCLA was not possible.
Jon Robertson, music director of the UCLA Symphony, was named chair of the department in 1993. Born in Jamaica, Robertson had spent part of his youth in Los Angeles, and felt personally invested in advancing the goal of increasing awareness of the power of the arts among inner-city youths. Robertson felt that one of the most serious challenges in convincing youths in low-income areas that college was in reach was the lack of serious training (itself a resource problem). Robertson partnered with the band director at Washington Prep High School in South Central Los Angeles and began a program where UCLA students provided serious musical training to students.
The program has since expanded and picked up vital support from donors and foundations.
“The Herb Alpert Foundation sees this partnership program as vital for Los Angeles, particularly for its unique experiential benefit to UCLA music students while providing younger and often underserved K-12 students an encouraging environment to learn directly from college level musicians,” said Rona Sebastian, president of the Herb Alpert Foundation. “It’s amazing to see young students learn so quickly, and the opportunities that UCLA musicians gain from mentoring younger students. We’ve been pleased to partner with UCLA to provide this essential service.”
The program eventually expanded to include elementary and middle school students. In 1998, the program expanded to include the Boys & Girls Club of Hollywood.
At the end of each year, young students showcase their newfound musical skills at a recital for their family and friends. It is an exciting moment, powered by the nerves that naturally come from giving one’s first-ever musical performance in front of a live audience.
If nerves affected Mateo, John Hollywood’s student, they did not show. Hollywood and Mateo had decided that he would perform his first original composition. It was a good song, and Mateo was clearly proud of it. For Hollywood, it was a moment of pride, too. Mateo, who had enjoyed learning the piano, had become bored with the exercises. Hollywood had pivoted away from the traditional path and, in so doing, opened a new world for him. Mateo performed it confidently to an adoring audience.
“The experience made me feel great as an educator,” said Hollywood. “Afterwards, one of my colleagues told me the piece had brought tears to her eyes.”