After just announcing a new cooperation, the Seattle Symphony and Key to Change held their first event together on October 8: a masterclass with conductor Jonathon Heyward (the soon-to-be Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra).
Key to Change is a regional nonprofit that has previously received funding from the Community Stages Fund. Its mission is to break down obstacles that prevent young, underprivileged artists and students of color from developing their musical talents.
Heyward worked with four studio students, offering some technical advice but mainly providing suggestions on what he is best known for: consciously and purposefully presenting music to an audience. The students’ comments about how motivating it was to learn from a teacher who resembled them in some way provided an illuminating view of the meeting point between music instruction and outreach.
Noah Geller, concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony, has recently been appointed as a violin instructor for Key to Change, furthering the relationship between the two organizations. Alongside Key to Change Executive Director Dr. Quinton Morris, Geller will provide students enrolled in the Young Artist Academy twice-weekly private violin instruction.