Program for May 12, 2022, Upper Valley Music Center

Dave Crandall introduced our guest speaker.
 
SPEAKER: Benjamin Van Vliet
 
 
Ben is executive director of the Upper Valley Music Center, a community music school based in Lebanon, NH serving more than 1,000 children and adults each year. Under his leadership, UVMC has thrived as a center for participatory music making. Ben has led multiple capital campaigns, including a campaign to create a permanent home for UVMC that acquired and renovated an historic building situated in a vibrant downtown arts district. UVMC has increased its commitment to making music education accessible by more than doubling the amount of tuition assistance awarded, piloting a program to serve at-risk youth, and recognizing multiple paths to access. Because diversity leads to the best education, Ben initiated diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging work with the goal to invest in the strength of a diverse learning community. 

Ben holds a M.M. in Violin Performance from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he studied violin with Elizabeth Chang and viola with Kathryn Lockwood, and a B.A. in Music from Vassar College.
 
Ben thanked Rotary for supporting the summer program UVMC is holding.  Ben spoke with us in “the before times” back in 2019
 
UVMC – NFP founded in 1995. Provide and promote best in music education and ensemble opportunities.  Serve more than 1,000 students each year by providing individual lessons, group classes, ensembles workshops and special events.  UVMC awarded more than $30,000 in tuition assistance in the past year.  Thousands of audience members through student recitals and guest artist performances.
 
UVMC started in the homes of its founders; then moved to the Mall in Lebanon; 2008 the took space at 63 Hanover Street next to Hirsch’s.  In 2017, the organization raised more than $1 MM to acquire and renovate a home across from the Lebanon Opera House.  UVMC has invested more than $800,000 into preserving and renovating the Kendrick-Wood home which dates back to 1816.
 
During the pandemic
  • Quick pivot – we were doing programming the first week after we closed our doors; continued music lessons on line
  • Maintaining connections – 2021 school year was on-line instructions across the board because ventilation wasn’t where it needed to be.
  • Continually adapting – Learned a lot about technology, kept our eye on what it’s like to play music together, to blend our voices. 
  • New HVAC system - In the middle of 2021, board installed a new, modern HVAC system.  Conceived in January and on line in November.  Catalyst for return to in-person.  2022 – we’ve done in-person but also hybrid when necessary; practiced flexibility. 
  • Outdoor programming was a key way to bring musicians together during the pandemic.
  • Return to indoor in-person once the HVAC system was ups and functioning
  • Hybrid flexibility continues to be part of the plan.  Some in person gathering, some over zoom using some of the latest technology.
  • Understanding our community in new ways – who we interacted with and didn’t interact with in the past; reaching folks through technology and bringing them in-person
 
Shows a video “Year In Review” (here’s a link to the video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4J4gmFVbCQ that encapsulates a lot of this.  Some of our journey through Covid.  Listen to the music which was one of our pandemic projects – all UVMC students.
 
HVAC system – created space to allow us to gather together.  Got rid of steam heat system and invested in cutting edge “3-pipe system” that allows movement of heat from one room to another.  Functional for us but also a model for others.
 
An outgrowth of the HVAC system was cleaning out the basement where we realized and accomplished a huge clean-out and turned it into a space where we can store a whole lot more music.  Many other music organizations have contacted us asking for storage – we enjoy helping to support other music organizations.
 
Faculty Showcase – beginning of April.  First in person since 2019. Benefit for tuition assistance.  Was sold-out and raised the most ever.  Our faculty are a huge asset and the reason UVMC can do what it does, great resource for students.  Being able to employ so many top-notch educators and musicians means more music throughout the community. 
 
Summer Camp Music Program will continue this year.
  • Create access to music education for children during the summer
  • Began partnerships with Lebanon Recreation and Parks, and Special Needs Support Center in 2019
  • In 2021, expanded to 6 weeks of music classes at Camp K
  • Funded by grants
 
Ingredients for Summer Music Fun
  • UVMC’s music instruction designed to support the Camp K program goals of Fun, Skill building and Citizenship
    • Mix of music and movement to develop foundational music skills
    • Keeping a beat
    • Singing a melody
    • Basic not reading
    • Playing with an ensemble
    • Listening skills
    • Games, songs, dances, maintaining hi energy and fun atmosphere of camp
    • Encourages future engagement in school and community music programs
    • Incorporates songs from a range of cultures and communities
 
Summer 2022
  • Expanding participation
  • Camp K to CCBA
  • UVMC music teachers visit daily teaching 2-3 classes/day
  • 2, 45-minute group music classes per week for each child
    • Camp K's4th year of partnership;
    • Kids 5-12, 6 weeks out of 7;
    • projecting 185 kids/week;
    • Partnering with CCBA
    • Kids 5-11, 6 weeks out of possible 9
    • Estimated 150 kids/week,
  • Looking at how to make this sustainable over time
 
Music with Special Needs Support Center
ASPIRE
  • Program for children who have disabilities that would make it challenging to participat in other camp programming
  • UVMC provide music for a one week program in 2019
  • Program expanding to 4 weeks with 1-2 classes per week in 2022
 
Music in the year ahead
  • Regrowth of ensembles (chorus, youth ensembles, chamber music)
  • Return to community performances
  • Responding to demand for lessons & classes
  • New Programs like DJ Academy
  • Early childhood music education research
 
QUESTIONS:
 
Ed:  DJ Academy?
Ben:  Disk Jockey program.  We had a pilot program to work with at-risk youth, we had to work with programs serving such youth.  Sean Hay is a DJ who’s made a career of using music to bring people together.  Wanted to help kids see how they could create program with similar skills.  Group class targeted at middle schoolers – something cool for kids who love music but havne’t started an instrument to get involved.
 
Phil:  Encourage anyone not to miss the faculty showcase each year.  The video was impressive – Phil attempted to put 2 tracks together and failed miserably, so amazing that so many tracks could be organized.  Tech skills at UVMC have expanded during the pandemic.  Might you offer classes for older, technically-challenged folks who want to do home recording?
Ben:  That’s a possibility.  I’m a violinist by training and tech stuff wasn’t anywhere near my own background.
 
BOOK IN HONOR OF OUR SPEAKER:
The Life of the Buddha, by Heather Sanche, illustrated by Tara Di Gesu
 
 
“In the full bloom of spring, in a beautiful garden, in a place called Lumbini, a prince was born.”
 
So begins the extraordinary story of the life of Siddhartha Gautama, the prince who would become the enlightened Buddha, the Awakened One. This classic tale follows Prince Siddhartha’s journey of truth-seeking and discovery, including his life-altering encounters with human suffering and his realization of the Four Noble Truths. Today, millions of people all over the world follow the Buddha’s teachings on meditation, selflessness, and compassion. Rendered here in exquisite original watercolor illustrations, this inspiring story is brought to life for young readers curious about one of history’s most monumental and influential figures.