Adopt-A-School: Academy gives kids music and wants it.

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On Thursday afternoon, Vancouver’s downtown East Side is about to show two sides: a rundown side and a beautiful side.

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A small group of children, led by Marlina Vincent, try to reach St. James Anglican Church, a kilometer away, without passing through street camps, a sign of despair, homelessness, poverty, addiction and mental illness. I have been knitting since Lord Strathcona Primary School. .

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Crossroads and detours finally get this little band of bards to church in twice the time it would take if the streets were empty.

“It’s not safe to bypass them,” Vincent says of the camp. “We have to walk the road, and I don’t want my children to see it.”

After circumnavigating the camp, they enter a church on the corner of East Cordoba and Goa, immersed in the sublime world of classical music, in contrast to the cityscape.

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The St. James Academy of Music operates in the basement of a church and offers a classical music education to 145 students aged 5 to 18. Most of them live in the poorest regions of Canada.

Tonight, the sheet music of some 50 people will be placed in front of you, under the spell of conductor José Cerón Ortega’s baton, and you will feel the stillness and concentration of the children who were fidgeting minutes ago.

“One, two, three, one, two…” As he soothes the notes from them, a throng of tiny assistants, including Vincent and Cardinal, hover around the freshman, pointing fingers wherever the violin, cello, viola, or double bass. It shows what to put. Generates “G”.

String players tonight, percussion and woodwinds the other nights.

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2 hours of free lessons twice a week.

Academy Executive Director Sarah Godoy said it was a gift to the community.

“We are here to provide quality classical music education to children from families who otherwise could not afford an education,” she says.

“Given what the children of the Downtown East Side are facing, they will acquire the skills to express themselves musically and develop all the benefits that it brings emotionally, psychologically and cognitively. It’s worth the opportunity.”

The program is modeled after one started in Venezuela 40 years ago, where the government sent music teachers and instruments to the poorest areas.

“It has changed countless lives and Venezuela now enjoys international fame for its classical musicians, conductors and composers. It has inspired similar movements around the world. We Canada It was the first time in

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The St. James Music Academy was founded in 2007 by Kathleen Walker, whose daughter Hannah serves as program director.

If their world outside this basement is a sometimes ruthless place, music provides these children with a passageway to another world.

This summer there was a fire in the building where one of the senior students who was a member of the string orchestra lived.

“It was very traumatic for her,” says Godoy.

“There were several performances scheduled for her quartet. She arrived at rehearsal and was crying. I thought it might be.

“But everyone hugged her, and then it was time to sit down and play. And she spent the next hour and a half immersed in music. I realized that the time I spent playing with her was a beautiful distraction, free from the horrors she had gone through.What a gift to have the ability to do that.”

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This morning, Hannah Walker received an email from a new mother who had doubts about how her daughter would respond to the program because she needed extra support in class and group settings.

“Hello Hannah: My daughter had the best first week at St James. It may sound dramatic, but I went to bed last night and found this program really helpful.This program saves lives.”

The Academy’s Christmas Concert is December 9th. Doors open at 6pm.

The SJMA is asking Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School program to purchase $21,500 in food so students can eat before class. Many families live in poverty and food provision is a necessary aid.

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gbellett@gmail.com

vansunkidsfund.ca

How to donate

1. Online: Donate online using a credit card at vansunkidsfund.ca.

2. Phone: To donate by credit card, call 604-605-2264.

3. Email: Please complete this donation form and mail either completed credit card details or a check/money order to the Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund Society to the address provided on the form.

Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund Society

The Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund welcomes donations from readers all year round to help hungry children. Donations are tax deductible and 100% of donations received go to grant projects to help underprivileged children in BC.

contact: Michelle Roebuck, Fund Manager, adaptaschool@vansunkidsfund.caor call 604-605-2264.

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