Day 17: Community Outreach

All 120 of us NYO members went to Carnegie Hall today to interact with many kids from different homeless shelters and programs in the New York area such as Gloria's House, Help I, and Willow Residence. We performed for them, with several kids sitting directly on stage with us, and then we spent twenty-five minutes interacting with a kid one-on-one, letting them try out our instruments, asking questions, etc.

During our first two pieces, a little boy by the name of Antoine was sitting right between the second violinists and violists. I had introduced myself to him earlier with a handshake, but I noticed that he was, in general, very quiet and looking somewhat disinterested. When I waved to him with a smile, he stared back at me blankly. He was not impressed.

I could see that the musicians around him were having a hard time getting him engaged.

And well, I thought: Challenge Accepted. When it came time for us to find a partner for the twenty-five minute interaction, I went to Antoine and asked him if he wanted to work with me. He didn't say a word. But after a few more questions, he finally started sharing some information. For one, he liked "America the Beautiful" the best out of all the pieces we played, and he was singing along to it "in his head". Finally, he told me "IT'S TOO LOUD!" So we went off the stage and into the audience.

When Antoine plucked the string on my cello, he smiled for the first time. "Now I can hear," he confided. I taught him how to pluck Twinkle Twinkle, and I was surprised at how quick a learner he was. After getting it on the second try, he wanted to play it with the bow. "This is so hard!" he said, as he pulled the bow across the strings with a smile on his face. But he still managed to get most of it out.

I showed him how to make seagull sounds on the cello (sliding down the A string with fake harmonics) and he was thoroughly impressed. By the time twenty-five minutes were up, I was inspired by this young seven year-old boy. I went into this activity thinking that it would be enough for these kids to just pluck a few strings and for me to answer any questions they had, but I came out realizing that these kids have such admirable curiosity and a strong eagerness to learn. There is no obstacle they cannot seek to overcome. That is the power of childhood we should all try to keep within ourselves as we grow.

Antoine went back to his seat in the audience, but I caught him occasionally looking up at me during our final piece. I waved to him. And this time, he waved back.