The performance is from students of a music school that teaches music to the blind.
The Southern California Conservatory of Music is the only place in the country that offers a braille music curriculum to teach musicianship of the highest caliber to blind and visually impaired students. It houses one of the largest braille music libraries in the world, and it also provides outreach programs to both blind and sighted children in the public schools who would otherwise receive no formal music education. After 37 years of steady service, this important community and national resource for the blind is facing severe financial difficulties, and has embarked on a fundraising campaign in an attempt to keep its doors open and continue its many programs.
I had an opportunity to talk to Dory Bavarsky, teacher over there and asked him about story behind the conservatory. Here is our conversation:
RS: Dory, what led you to get interested in this school?
DB: I was enrolled as a piano student at the conservatory at age 13. My teacher was Grant Horrocks, who along with Richard Taesch had founded the Braille Music Division of our school. I was studying classical piano quite intensively, and spent many of my weekends practicing at the conservatory. Since I was often there on Saturdays, I began to observe and then participate in the group classes for blind children. It was fascinating because the way these children were taught to engage in music was somewhat different than what I had been used to. Also, the range of abilities and disabilities presented in our group of students was quite vast and remarkable. I met children who had tremendous music gifts, including a few with incredible ears. Many of our blind students have perfect pitch, and some to such a degree that they can easily play back complicated music upon a single hearing. I was especially amazed by Rachel Flowers, who at age 4 was playing Beethoven sonatas by ear, though she could barely reach the keyboard. Eager to work with this special group of people, I continued volunteering as an assistant throughout my high school years. After graduating from UCSB, I was hired as a faculty member at the conservatory.
RS: Tell us more about the wonderful work the school is doing?
DB: Our school provides a variety of important services. We operate as a regular music conservatory, offering private lessons in all the major instruments, including voice, piano, violin, guitar, and flute. Our Braille Music Division offers the same level of intensive musical education to the blind community. We hold weekly group classes in Braille music notation, keyboard skills, and ear training, as well as private lessons for some students. In addition, the Braille Music Division has conducted numerous outreach programs at other schools for the disabled throughout Southern California. Last year, our teachers, including myself, visited three different schools on a weekly basis, and conducted music appreciation classes for their students. These classes involve playing all kinds of music, discussing it, and even giving the kids an opportunity to feel and play various instruments. These outreaches are an important aspect of our program, as they provided a wonderful musical experience for kids who richly deserve and enjoy it.
Over our many years of service, we have developed strong relationships with many other organizations working with the blind community, including Junior Blind of America, California State University Northridge, and California Transcribers and Educators of the Visually Handicapped. We are also the headquarters for The Music Education Network For The Visually Impaired, which is an information network composed of musicians, specialists, students, parents, and music educators.
RS: What can you share about some of the success stories of the school?
DB: Our school has had so many successes, especially in our Braille Music Division. We’ve had several students who have gone on to study music at colleges and universities. In fact, some of them have come back and are now working as instructors! We have also had students who come to our program unable to read braille. In several instances these students’ school teachers had declared that they would never be literate. However, music brings out hidden abilities, and after a few years with us, not only were these students reading braille, they were reading braille music notation as well.
One of our most inspiring students is one I mentioned earlier, Rachel Flowers. Rachel started with us as a tiny, nearly silent little girl. Though she would hardly ever talk, her musical ears were astounding. Over the years, Rachel has developed into an extraordinary musician. Her participation in music has also aided her development into a cheerful, talkative young lady. She plays piano and flute, and during the last few years become an excellent Jazz player. Last year, Rachel impressed some of the biggest stars of Jazz, including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Hubert Laws, when she performed for them as part of an celebration honoring Herbie Hancock.
RS: What support are you looking for and how can people show their support?
DB: An important aspect of our Braille Music Division is that tuition for group classes is free for all our students. This policy ensures that no child is denied instruction based on financial circumstances. Thus, the conservatory has always relied on donations and grants to cover some of our operating costs. Unfortunately, because of the difficult economy, many of the annual grants we had been receiving did not come through this year. Simply stated, the conservatory needs immediate emergency funds in order to stay open for the next term. All donations help us keep our doors open and allow us to continue offering services from our current location. If we do manage to survive this challenging time, we will need continued support in order to continue and expand our programs. People can help us so much by donating to the school, and also by telling others about us.
Also, please visit http://www.sccm.us/index_files/Page1544.htm to view photos and performance videos of some of our Braille Music Division students. There is a terrific video of Rachel playing piano and flute, at the same time!
Finally, the book is going to print this week. Actually, it went to the printers today. It was out of my hands a few weeks ago but until it went to the printers there was a feeling of incompleteness. There was some sort of finality finally. It was an year-long journey to get here and the book will be released on May 1, 2009. The real journey begins then.
The book is dedicated to my teacher Mr. G Seetharam. In my nex newsletter, I have provided the background for why this book was dedicated to Mr. Seeetharam and a few lessons that I learned from him between 1986 to 1988.
For those of you who have signed up for the newsletter, thank you. You can sign up for the newsletter here:
When you are good at something, you tend to look at all the problems via that angle. This is important for you to know as this is how you will be looking at problems. This is also important for you to know when you listen to experts as this is how they are looking at the problems.
This is all the more important when it comes to way we use social media.
Take LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and even blogs – there are a variety of ways of using these tools to contribute, increase your capacity and/or make a difference.
Every tool will have experts who know how to make the most out of these tools. Some of these experts go so deep on these tools that they will look at every problem as something that can be solved via THAT tool. These experts are also popular in THEIR community which seems to validate that whatever they are doing is WORKING.
So, what should you do?
Here is one suggestion:
Take the best of what the experts are suggesting that you do but PLEASE apply the advice to your context. Your specific case may require some change to the strategy or may warrant a TOTALLY different strategy.
I am 75 days old on Twitter. I have a long way to go there but I know that I have to start somewhere.
So, here is what I am doing on Twitter in the next two three weeks (starting Feb 23, 2009 to March 13, 2009):
Everyday from Monday to Friday I will have five tweets from 6.30am to 10.30am PST under the ThinkTweet category. There will be a ThinkTweet at 6.30am, 7.30am, 8.30am, 9.30am and 10.30am PST. My goal is to make every one of these tweets count – meaning make you think.
I am VERY confident of keeping this promise about the schedule. Why? (wink) because I have already scheduled mostALL MOST of these Tweets using HootSuite. I wrote them over the last few weeks in preparation for these two weeks.
I know, I know – Twitter is all about conversations. However, I think Twitter can be used for something more. To enrich and enlighten. 140 characters is a lot to make someone think. These 50 tweets will be my humble attempt to prove that.
Come and join me on Twitter on this journey. You don’t have to be on Twitter to follow these tweets. There is an RSS feed option on my Twitter home page and you can subscribe using any RSS reader. If you are my friend on Facebook, you will see these Tweets as status updates on my Facebook profile.
Being in Silicon Valley, I see people getting laid off almost everyday. Actually, I see more people who are in the “fear of a layoff” everyday. Talking to them in the last couple of months, I think the “living in the fear of facing a layoff” is worse than being laid off.
Why?
Because both the employee and the employer lose in that game. The employee loses because he is NOT giving his or her best. The employer loses actually for the same reason,
So, I embarked on a journey to write an eBook titled:
DEFIANT Facing A Layoff AND Doing It Anyway
(Yes, the title is inspired by the movie “Defiance” )
The book is now complete. This time around, I have added an Appendix where I will include specific tips contributed by thoughtful people. I have got thirty of them so far and am looking for twenty more tips. Please make it original and something that others might have not thought about. Tips like “Update your LinkedIn profile,” “Update your resume” are important but common. I am looking for something more innovative and your help is appreciated.
Do you have one SPECIFIC tip for people who are facing a layoff?
If I select the tip to include in the eBook, I will include a link to your website along with your tip. If someone else has already submitted the tip, I will let you know as well.
My new book “Upbeat” is still a couple of months away but a lot is happening behind the scenes in preparation for the book release. I am excited about it for many reasons the number #1 reason being the timing.
My belief is that it’s all in the perspective with which we look at things:
One way to look at this is: Recession is hard on everybody and there is not much help out there. Read the newspapers, watch the TV and there is only negative news. I need help but everyone is busy so there is no possibility of getting help.
Another way of looking at this is: Recession is hard on everybody and everybody needs help. If I am capable of giving “good” help, then suddenly the market for my help expanded in a big way.
Last week I was with Michael Stelzner, the whitepaper Guru at Balboa Park in San Diego. Mike was kind enough to interview me and we talked about the book and a few other things. Here is the video (about 6 minutes)
One of the questions posed in the Open Mic Night with Barry Moltz at Successful Blog (by Liz Strauss) was:
How can one find more clients in this economy?
At the risk of simplifying, here is my quick advice to the guy who’s looking for more clients in the economy:
First, remember that more people NEED help in this economy. They need “good” help. They are looking for it.So there is a bigger opportunity find clients in this economy.
Second, You have to be there where they are looking for “good” help. Visibility is key. If there is no awareness in the marketplace about who you are, it gets tough. This is where the Personal Branding (free eBook) comes into play.
Third, You have to create an assessment in these clients that YOU can provide that “good” help. There are so many people looking for the same clients so this is where the relationships you have built (free eBook) will come into play.
Fourth, You should have “accumulated” lots of proof to back up your claim that you can “provide” that good help. Your past accomplishments will provide a shortcut to establish the proof.
Fifth, If you do get a project, you should provide a service that “will blow them away” so that they go out and tell others to come and “find” you.
We were on a long walk where I was explaining Navin “WhyTwitter won’t work for me.” Navin ( in his usual style ) asked back, “Why don’t you find a way to make it work?”
I was not expecting that question but was VERY open to it. Over the last few weeks, I have experimented with Twitter and have made a few new friends over there. Although VERY late into the game, I think I am finding ways of using Twitter – one step at a time.
An example: Twitter is perfect for me to share a tweet like this one. It is too big for a blog post and does not fit very well for a mini saga.
If you want to follow me on Twitter, my handle there is @UpbeatNow. Looking forward to connecting with you there. Why @UpbeatNow as the handle?
Because “Upbeat” is the new book to be published in March 2009!
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