Who says music doesn’t change lives?

Anthony is a young violinist in the NJSO’s Greater Newark Violin Ensemble (GNVE). He’s played in GNVE for three years, has found friends in the ensemble and, surprising to him, a satisfying outlet for his creativity. He doesn’t take costly private violin lessons, and nobody in his family has done anything like this before. So the proposition of moving up, of joining the more advanced Greater Newark Chamber Orchestra, is looming large. Can he improve his playing enough to take on the harder music in the Chamber Orchestra? Can he pass the upcoming audition?
 
Word of Anthony’s situation reached NJSO Assistant Principal Second Violin Rebekah Johnson, who agreed to provide a half-dozen private lessons for him, and the results have been remarkable. “He is a changed player,” GNVE and NJSO violinist Naomi Youngstein reports. “He is prepared with his music, plays much more in tune, holds his bow and violin significantly better and, as such, was an effective leader on the hardest piece at his last concert. His entire attitude and outlook have been lifted.”
 
There are a number of students just like Anthony in the NJSO’s three-tiered youth orchestra program—players for whom the magic of playing music has been revealed, and for whom the satisfaction and personal growth that comes from being involved in a program of this kind is tantalizingly close.

RELATED: Spotlight on the Greater Newark Youth Orchestras
 
Will you help make a difference in the lives of the other young players for whom access to private lessons would be transformational? With 100 new gifts of $50, we can pay for private lessons for all of the program’s young musicians who have promise that is not yet unlocked, and for whom access to such a critical resource is severely limited.

Change a life—donate today! Please take a moment now to make a secure online donation or call 973.735.1730 to make a gift over the phone. Whether you give a little or a lot, your generosity is much appreciated.