GIVING
Bach—and Social Justice—Make a Sweet Duet for One Charity Leader
By Brennen Jensen
PROVIDENCE, R.I.
SEBASTIAN RUTH loves the music of Brahms and Bach, and he has always wanted to help poor children rise above their circumstances.
One day, gripped by a determination to
combine these two passions, he walked
into a community center in Providence,
R.I., with a viola tucked under his arm.
There, alongside the basketball court
of a city-run recreation facility serving
working-class and largely black and Latino residents of the city’s hardscrabble
West End, he told the staff he was available to provide free classical music lessons to any child who was interested.
Thirteen years later, that improbable encounter, now called Community
Music Works, has won Mr. Ruth a place
among the 23 John D. and Catherine
T. MacArthur Foundation fellows announced in September. The fellowships,
widely referred to as “genius” grants,
give $500,000 to recipients to do with
as they wish.
When he first made his offer to the
community center staff, Mr. Ruth, now
age 35, had recently graduated from
Brown University and was empowered
by a $10,000 grant from the school’s
Swearer Center for Public Service,
which helps students and alumni engage in charitable work. His motivation
was a commitment to social justice, and
a visceral belief that music and musicianship can transform both individuals and communities—fostering cooperation and empathy, while engendering self-esteem and lifelong intellectual
curiosity.
“Why shouldn’t kids in the West End
be exposed to classical music?” Mr.
Ruth says, reflecting back on his decision. “I wanted to give kids opportunities to break down the social norms that
say, ‘ This is what people of color do, this
is what white people do,’ and make this
music a normal and acceptable part of
everyday life in their community.”
COURTESY OF THE JOHN D. AND CATHERINE T. MACARTHUR FOUNDATION
Sebastian Ruth’s Community
Music Works brings
classical-music education
to Providence, R.I.’s inner city.
“We are not missionaries or
saviors,” says Mr. Ruth (above).
“We are servants of a community.”
Left, the group’s Fellows Quartet
shows off its skills.
‘Equity and Access’
What began with a young graduate’s
grand, though untested, vision and a
dozen rented violins has since grown
into a charity Mr. Ruth runs with a
$600,000 annual budget and 10 instructors providing free violin, viola, and cello lessons to more than 100 Providence
youngsters (with another 120 on a waiting list). The group also hosts a resident
string quartet that performs the classical canon across the city, including in
school gymnasiums and soup kitchens.
In recognizing Mr. Ruth’s work with a
fellowship, the MacArthur Foundation,
in Chicago, lauded Mr. Ruth’s “vision
of music as a nurturing neighborhood
necessity,” and praised him for “creat-
ing rewarding musical experiences for
often-forgotten populations and forg-
ing a new, multifaceted role beyond the
concert hall for the twenty-first-century
musician.”
“There’s a strong message of equity
and access in what they are doing,” says
Daniel Kertzner, a program officer at
the Rhode Island Foundation, in Providence, which has provided more than
$200,000 in support of Mr. Ruth’s charity since 2000. “It’s music, but it’s also
about empowering the young people.
The level and quality of music instruction is really high and they are drawing
out and developing the young people as
people. They have a very high track record of kids who go on to college.”
Beyond the Notes
Community Music Works is based in a
pair of storefronts carved out of a rangy
Victorian house along a busy commercial strip. Violins and cellos hang in the
windows and external speakers broadcast quartet practices out onto the sidewalk.
Parents pay a one-time $10 registra-
tion fee to enroll children, ages 7 to 18,
while the lessons and loaner instru-
ments are free. To be eligible, students
must reside in one of seven local neigh-
borhoods that are among the city’s poor-
est.
While the musical instruction is de-
manding, the goal of the program is not
to unearth a child prodigy or create the
next Yo-Yo Ma.
“We are not screening for talent or
excluding people if they aren’t demon-
strating some special gift,” Mr. Ruth
says. “We are developing an idea of mu-
sic education that is inclusive of a struc-
tured training in the technical aspects,
but also grounded in ongoing dialogues
about musicianship and service and civ-
ic engagement.”
This beyond-the-notes approach is
perhaps best expressed in the “Phase
II” program the charity runs for its
teenage participants. The teenag-
ers gather Friday evenings to eat din-
ner, make music together, and discuss
what’s on their minds. “Some kids face
serious family challenges or pretty big
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