Violin class at Pasadena Conservatory of Music.

Pasadena Conservatory of Music is instrumental in making young musicians

By Brenda Gazzar and Catherine Gaugh

Photo by Walt Mancini

Veronica Mansour was 18 months old and her brother Alex was 3 ½ when they first expressed interest in playing a musical instrument.
That was when their mother, Laurie Mansour, a classically trained pianist and guitarist, started looking for “a place with a developmental approach, a whole child approach” for their music education. She said she found it at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music.
Now 13, Veronica is already an accomplished student musician, and has earned a Young Musicians Foundation Scholarship for both cello and piano. Alex, 15, won first place at the American String Teachers Association guitar competition this spring at USC and has played piano at Carnegie Hall.
“PCM is very special, and very family oriented,” said Laurie Mansour, a family therapist who jokes that her current full-time job is as chauffeur. She drives her teenagers twice a week from Valencia to the conservatory for private and group classes.
“It has integrity, creativity and versatility. The children learn leadership and collaboration skills.”
For nearly three decades, the conservatory has offered the gift of making music to children and adults in a collaborative environment. Founded by piano teachers Silke Sauppe and Wynne Stone, the nonprofit community music school began as a modest operation from a small church in 1984 with eight instructors and 40 students.
Today, the conservatory’s growing campus at a former mortuary site on North Hill Avenue has 60 faculty members and 1,300 students drawn from more than 200 public and private schools.
PCM’s mission includes education through a comprehensive music curriculum, whether a pupil wants to round out his or her musical education or is aiming to get into a top-drawer music school, such as Bard, Juilliard or the USC Thornton School of Music, said Stephen McCurry, PCM’s executive director for two decades.
Seventy-four percent of the students are 15 and younger while 80 percent are from Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley areas.
“We are a community music school,” McCurry said. “Community for us means that we are serving a broad spectrum of people out there, including an age range from infants to senior citizens.
Some students study music as a hobby, while others plan to be professional musicians.”
In 2008, the school received accreditation by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Precollegiate Arts Schools, one of 14 such schools in the country to receive this status. But it is the conservatory’s strong sense of community among its faculty, administrators and families that officials suggest best distinguishes the school.
The conservatory stages about 100 performances a year; parents are encouraged to attend their children’s music classes; and there is a great deal of collective music making at both the student and faculty level.
“Throughout the organization, everyone is focused on the same thing: the study, performance and enjoyment of music,” McCurry said.
With a nearly $1.9 million annual budget that has grown tenfold in the last decade, the conservatory offers classes in voice, chamber music, guitar, keyboard, strings, woodwinds and brass and now jazz.
The fast-growing Strings Department uses the Suzuki method for violin, viola and cello developed by Japanese violinist and pedagogue Shinichi Suzuki for the teaching of young children.
It takes the same step-by-step approach used by children learning their native language and adapting it to learning the violin and other instruments. Parents are considered a key component to the method’s success and their presence in lessons and group classes is strongly encouraged.
“We feel all children can learn to play a musical instrument given the proper approach,” said Rick Mooney, a Suzuki-certified cello teacher at the conservatory since its inception. “The idea that only talented ones can be successful at making music … we don’t believe it.”
Conservatory students are exposed to many genres of music as well as different instruments. No matter their skill level, they can attend and listen to a guitar Masters Teacher class or a lecture on theory or jazz at any time, said Mary Kelly, chairwoman of the Strings Department.
“They see the big picture of what music is about,” Kelly said. “They are not isolated and only studying their one instrument. They are in this community of musicians.”
Learning music gives students a sense of accomplishment and confidence and also teaches them the importance of cooperation, Kelly added. It also gives students an outlet to be creative and express themselves through their instruments.
“When learning an instrument, you learn to speak a language that upon hearing, everyone understands, but few actually know how to speak,” she said.
The conservatory started offering classes a couple of years ago from Master Teachers in guitar, violin, piano and cello for a small number of students angling to get into the best college and university music programs.
Among the teachers is Scott Tennant, a world-renowned performer and a founding member of the Grammy-winning ensemble Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. His classes are the only ones that require an audition by the instructor.
“It’s a very, very competitive environment to become a professional musician,” McCurry said. “This is an approach to really provide the highest possible level of training.”
The new jazz program is a way for the conservatory to expand beyond its traditional offerings, which are rooted in Western Classical music, he said.
“It’s a reflection of our aspiration to serve a wider constituency, to start providing programs for a broader spectrum of the community,” McCurry said.
Highly regarded jazz educator and saxophone player Ray Briggs of Pasadena — who is assistant director of jazz studies at California State University, Long Beach — is the chairman of the new jazz program.
Down the road, McCurry said he would also like to explore other kinds of world music, including traditions from Africa and Asia, he said.
The addition of jazz was made possible after the conservatory’s 10-year-old North Hill campus expanded by acquiring last year the property to its north. It added a second performance venue and additional classroom space. The conservatory is currently in the final stretch of a $7.5 million capital fundraising campaign to make improvements to the campus.
“The goal of the campaign is to serve the needs of the growing programs on this campus for the next 10 years, by adding additional classrooms, studios and performance venues and also by upgrading the infrastructure, such as the air conditioning systems,” said Cynthia Nickell, the conservatory’s development director.
The funds will also make the campus accessible for users of wheelchairs, strollers and cellos on wheels, Nickell said.
The conservatory’s Young Musicians program offers 30 age-appropriate classes a week to children ranging in age from infants to 11 years old.
From the earliest ages, young children move, sing and play instruments along with music recordings, said Rachael Doudrick, the chairwoman of the Young Musicians Department.
“We begin with play-oriented movement and songs, teaching ear training and early music literacy along the way,” she said. “We hope to provide children with the experiences they need, socially, intellectually and physically, to help them succeed in instrumental studies and become lifelong musicians.”
The conservatory also dedicates 10 percent of its budget to music education outreach programs, including scholarships, to provide access to those who wouldn’t normally have it.
For the last eight years, for example, it has provided weekly music lessons for all pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade students at neighboring Jefferson Elementary School. With the sponsorship of the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts, the Music Mobile introduces 3,000 local third graders from about 25 schools to the orchestra each year.
There is also a subsidized instrument rental program.
“Part of our mission is to educate, advocate, inspire and share; and part of that is to share without regard to socioeconomic background. ” said Amelia Firnstahl, the school’s operations manager and outreach department chairwoman. “Our outreach programs are one way to do that.”
Fees can range from $240 per quarter for the Young Musicians program to $660 per quarter for 30-minute private lessons to $840 per quarter for 60-minute lessons in various departments, although each program is distinct. The Master Teachers courses can range from $960 to $1,200 per quarter.

Pasadena Conservatory of Music, 100 N. Hill Ave. 626-683-3355
www.pasadenaconservatory.org

Santa Cecilia Orchestra and its conductor Sonia Marie De Leon de Vega

By Claudia S. Palma

Photo by Walt Mancini

A young girl used music as a way to connect with her father. As a grown woman, she uses music to connect with the community, especially the Latin community.
Sonia Marie De León de Vega formed the Santa Cecilia Orchestra 20 years ago specifically to bring classical music to Latino families in Eagle Rock and surrounding communities.
Through the orchestra, she also began “Discovering Music” in 1998, a two-year music education program that brings instruments into more than a dozen elementary schools throughout Los Angeles County ,and in the hands of students.
“(Starting the orchestra) was very personal. I wanted to serve my own community,” said De León de Vega. “I wanted to take the arts to the schools. The kids need that or else they wouldn’t have that opportunity.”
Another reason to create the orchestra was so the Texas-born Latina could lead it. While she is not the first female conductor, when De León de Vega began her path to conducting, she faced some obstacles in the male-dominated field, and sometimes because of her ethnicity.
“This isn’t the only unusual profession for women. I tell people, they have to follow their dream, their passion,” she said. “Music is my passion. Music saved my life.
“One of the reasons I got into music, was to get (my father’s) attention,” she admits.
Her father, the late Reynaldo Sanchez, traveled a lot as a vocalist and guitarist in a traditional Mexican musical trio. With a traveling musician father and a noted actress mother, who is now a pop artist promoter, it was not a surprise De León de Vega began her music instruction early. But she never imagined where it would lead her.
“I never thought when I was a child that I would be conducting music,” she said. “I’m making music by conducting it and choosing the programs. (It’s because of conducting) that I got to start this orchestra.”
De León de Vega discovered Beethoven at age 6 from flipping through radio stations. She quickly told her piano teacher and said she wanted to play Beethoven. Her teacher advised her to take it one step at a time. While formally studying music in college, she took a mandatory conducting class and her instructor saw her natural ability and suggested it as a major.
She didn’t think much of it at the time but saw that there weren’t many women conducting and the few that were, were working with opera orchestras and symphonies.
When she began conducting professionally, she worked mostly in Europe and Mexico. She was the first woman to conduct a symphony for a Papal Mass at the Vatican, but orchestras in the United States weren’t too interested.
“I definitely feel unique “ as a Latina conductor, De Leon de Vega said. “It’s still rare.”

There have been a few female conductors in Los Angeles and of those, few are Latina yet De León de Vega said she doesn’t feel much different than any other conductor.
“(After a concert I conducted,) someone said to me, ‘what’s your background? You can’t be Mexican, you have to be mixed.’ I hated that,” she recalls.
But after a concert with SCO, De León de Vega was approached by a young girl who innocently asked her if men can also conduct.
“Here’s a little girl watching me conduct and thinking a woman does this all the time,” she smiles.
De León de Vega admits she has been discriminated against from other conductors but never from her orchestra.
“You have to build respect. It takes time,” she said. “(The orchestra) just wants someone that knows what they’re doing, to act professionally.”

Santa Cecilia
Soon after the death of her father, De León de Vega was inspired to create her own orchestra.
In 1992, she honored him by naming the orchestra after his favorite saint — Santa Cecilia, the patron saint of music.
“I think (my father) would really be surprised. I think he would be very pleased.” she said.
The orchestra’s 20th anniversary is in June. The celebrating will come at the beginning of the new season later this year.
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“It does feel like 20 years: It’s been a lot of work,” said De León de Vega. “The growth has been great.”
SCO has come a long way since its first concert which had an audience of about a dozen people in a church. Now it draws a thousand people to the concerts that are held in various places, but most recently in Thorne Hall at nearby Occidental College. The orchestra has rehearsals at Seventh Day Church in Eagle Rock.
At frst, “people thought we were crazy (to try and reach a Latino audience) but when you have culture, you have beauty. I wanted to bring beauty (to the Latin community),” said De León de Vega. “They get it now. They come back. Someone said we’re building an audience one family at a time.”
The concerts feature classical works from various noted composers such as Brahms and Gershwin as well as at least one Latino composer’s work, such as Carlos Chávez.  One show each a season is dedicated completely to works from Latin composers.
“Sonia’s very excellent as far as programming,” said Rodolfo Vega, associate director of SCO. “It’s such where people are attracted to it. They’re moved by it. We see their faces, of families (when they first arrive at a concert). They’re skeptical at first, but they’re surprised at their kids’ behavior. They’re transformed by it.”
At the April concert,  ‘Latinos Clasicos’, SCO performed Yalil Guerra’s ‘Old Havana,’ a world premiere, and ‘Leyenda de Miliano’ by Arturo Márquez, a Los Angeles premiere. Both Guerra and Marquez are still alive.
“(Guerra) is the youngest composer we’ve featured (that’s still alive),” said De León de Vega.
“It’s wonderful to get the composer’s feedback,” she said. “Conducting is bringing that composer’s heart to life. You can’t just follow the notes (on sheet music), it has to come to life so the audience can feel that too. That’s what’s great about symphonic music, you can feel whatever you want.”
Guerra, a Havana native began his classical music training at a young age as well with his parents playing a big influence.
“(I started) singing with my parents, then I started the guitar,” said the 39-year-old. “I always had it in my mind that I wanted to be a composer.”
Guerra studied guitar and composition in Spain. He has written 30 classical works and composed more than 100 pop songs.
“My school background is classical, but at the same time I had the popular background because of my parents,” he said. “Learning to switch between the two took me some time.”
‘Old Havana,’ composed in 2009 and the title to his first classical album, was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2010.
Guerra is emotional as he hears his work performed by SCO for the first time during a rehearsal for Latinos Clasicos.
“I’m thankful, and so honored, that this will stay in music history records. That (De León de Vega) was the conductor and SCO the orchestra, and performed all while the composer was alive,” he reflects. “That’s very important. Imagine having to wait 150 years for your work to be played. As composers, we have to wait to see how it is presented. With Sonia, I’m in good hands.”
Guerra had been sharing his compositions with Sonia for awhile. He finally asked her one day if she would want to premiere ‘Old Havana’ with SCO and she was more than willing. Guerra had another piece premiere in an L.A. piano concert in May.
“Music is an art that transmits energy when you feel the vibration of the orchestra, you can feel empathy,” he said. “What Sonia and SCO is doing is great — bringing music to the L.A. community and the Latino community. They’re giving them the opportunity to afford to pay a concert ticket, because many venues are expensive. They’re treated to an excellent and tasteful concert with great music in abeautiful hall. The price is incredible.”

Little hands make big sounds
Whether it creates future musicians or future doctors, music education is an important part of a child’s upbringing, De Leon de Vega said. The orchestra’s Discovering Music program’s motto is “Music is for everyone.”
Dodi, her 14-year-old son, has taken music lessons since he was a toddler.
“I don’t believe he’ll be a musician,” she admits. “But it’s a great thing to do, especially for children, to build their self esteem. We live in a world of instant gratification. Playing an instrument, you have to take the time to learn. You have to play every day. You have to practice and put the effort in.”
Through Discovering Music, SCO reaches about 200 students in third through sixth grades each year at more than a dozen elementary schools, most in northeast Los Angeles. The program has been in about 35 schools as close as Pasadena and as far away as Pomona.
“When we reach our schools, it’s really intimate,” said Vega. “We send four to six musicians into the classrooms with different instruments to teach them to play.”
The program works to reach schools without music programs or have limited programs. SCO changes the schools they serve every two years.
“It’s like you’re opening a door (the students) didn’t know was there. A door to opportunity,” said De León de Vega. “The kids get inspired. They get to find out about what a bassoon is, an oboe.”
The program has a string program in some schools, as well as mentoring programs in some middle schools.
“Next year we will start with second grade,” said De León de Vega. “We have youth orchestras in several schools (as part of the program). The future goal would be to bring them together for a larger orchestra.”
Students in the program are then invited along with their families to one of SCO’s concerts.
“In our experience, students have to drag their parents, many of them because they haven’t been exposed to (classical music) before,” said Vega. “Music can transform people’s lives, we see it. It’s moving that we see different age groups, many different ethnicities. It’s a unique experience.”
An hour before each concert, SCO offers audience members a special experience with ‘Make Music!’ Adults and children alike are invited to feel and play with instruments with orchestra musicians, in each of the orchestra families: strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion.
SCO has received most of its support for the Discovering Music program from foundations.
“One of the things we never cut back on is the kids programs, it’s our mission,” said Vega.
De León de Vega and SCO continue their mission of bringing the beauty of music to the masses with their 2012-13 season this fall.
“There’s still a lot of great music I would like to perform,” she said. “There’s a lot of power in beauty, a lot of power in culture. When you hear it and you see it, you’re impacted.”
For more on De León de Vega, SCO and Discovering Music, visit scorchestra.org. For more on Yalil Guerra, visit yalilguerra.com

Larry McZeal of Mr. McZeal and the Late Nights

By Michelle J. Mills

Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz

Larry McZeal sinks into the overstuffed couch against the back wall of the Coffee Gallery in Altadena with a smile that exudes confidence. It’s not surprising, as this man has his hand in a range of endeavors and is always looking for even more ways to spread his talents, all while maintaining an irrepressible positive attitude.
The 28-year-old Altadenan is a singer/songwriter, the frontman of the blues/rock band, Mr. McZeal & the Late Nights, and the creator of Fusion, a bi-monthly variety night at the Old Towne Pub in Pasadena.
“The hardest thing, especially with trying to sell yourself as a black artist, is that a lot of times my own people don’t know how to perceive me because of the commercial onslaught that they absorb,” McZeal said.
“The radio stations geared to us are all R&B and hip-hop, and the idea of anyone picking up a guitar is almost taboo in our culture. Only certain artists are even given that respect because they have to earn it first and be recognized as a performer before they can be lovingly absorbed by their own people.”
McZeal performs solo as often as he can during the open mic and Artisan Alley nights at the Coffee Gallery. For his band, he handles the vocals and guitar with Pasadena guitarist David Johnathan Smith, bassist Daniel Higgins of Arcadia and drummer Johnathan Tweedy of Alhambra. Mr. McZeal & the Late Nights play throughout the San Gabriel Valley and will be featured during an open block party on Halsted Circle in Alhambra on July 4.
McZeal is the main writer for his projects. He draws lyrical ideas from everyday life, imagining what it would be like to be in different situations. And in all cases, his words are optimistic, hopeful and inspiring.
“A lot of people confuse the idea that blues music has to be about feeling down or feeling bad,” he said. “There are plenty of inspirational blues songs that are campy and upbeat. It just depends on where you want the listener to go.
“I’ve been able to express myself pretty well in terms of pain and anger, but that part of my life is over, I’m really more focused on the positive lifestyle.”
McZeal began singing after receiving a radio for Christmas when he was 12. He would buy singles of the songs he liked, such as tunes by Toni Braxton and Michael Jackson, and play them over and over, singing along. His father died from a heart attack when McZeal was 13, but not before instilling him with good values.
“You cannot grow up in a black household with two loving parents and not get a solid upbringing,” McZeal said. He always thinks his father is “somewhere watching me, making sure I am becoming the man he wanted me to be.”
A year after his father’s death, McZeal’s mother bought him an acoustic guitar, but it took three years before he got good at it. Today he still plays his new songs for his mother before he shares them with anyone else.
McZeal works as an IT consultant to pay the bills. In his free time, he is looking for a space to launch a dinner theater showcase with spoken word performances and short plays. He also wants to connect with charities, especially organizations associated with disadvantaged youth.
“You have to try, you have to speak to be heard,” McZeal said. “No one thing will get you through it, every aspect of everything you do has a path and there are pratfalls and there are obstacles and you have to plan for these things and move around them. A lot of people’s biggest obstacle is themselves.”

PASADENA STAR-NEWS NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION OF THE YEAR

The Y's Tech Gyrls explore the Internet. (June Korea, June Korea Photography)

2011 Women for Racial Justice Breakfast Committee, L to R: Tamika Farr, Ayana Rose, Crystal Hernandez, Roberta Martinez, Denise Jones, Abby Lloyd Sabin, Johari DeWitt-Rogers, Anne Wolf, Julianne Hines. Very front in chair: Toby Osos (Photo by Jennifer Brett)

Established in 1905, the YWCA Pasadena-Foothill Valley, an independent nonprofit organization, has long been a pioneering voice in the fight for racial, economic, and gender equality.

From the pre-1920 racial integration plan to the early 1970s founding of the nation’s first Big Sister program and the area’s first rape hotline, the YWCA has long been on the cutting edge of responding to the needs of women.

Last year, the organization served 2,631 community members in the Pasadena area. It has a special emphasis on low-income communities, women, youth and minorities, and run a number of programs that serve women, girls and the community at large.

The YWCA Pasadena-Foothill Valley is developing girls into leaders, celebrating women’s accomplishments and advocating for a community free of violence and racism.

Mission statement
We are dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.