“The Community Artist Fellowship is a full-time job, offering a platform for alumni to bring Curtis resources out into the Philadelphia community, sharing music with people that might not otherwise have access to it, or with those that need it most. This year, my time has been divided between William Cramp Elementary School in North Philadelphia, and Jefferson hospital.

Cramp’s wonderful string program was developed by Shannon Lee and her community partners, and has been thriving ever since. This year has been an expansion project! I teach cello twice a week to third, fourth, and fifth grade; and the goal for the year is to create a healthy cello class, with working instruments and basic fundamental playing techniques, in the hope that the school can form a small string orchestra.

“My work at the hospital involves curating concerts in the atrium, as well as building connections between the medical school and Curtis through the medicine+music program. The goal is to bring as much of our music as we can into the hospital, in the hope that we can improve the lives of the patients, families, and healthcare workers.”

Zachary’s fellowship revolves around two projects: a residency at Carver High School of Science and Engineering and Creative Expression Through Music workshops in partnership with Penn Memory.

Partnering with music teacher Louis Russo, Zach is currently working with students in the Honors Music Program at Carver to find creative, personal ways to engage with the realities and social implications of climate change. So far this has included bringing in guest speakers, learning fundamentals of improvisation and storytelling, and exploring existing art that advocates for a more sustainable future. At the same time, he has been visiting the school’s Environmental Studies class, and he is coordinating with a variety of other classes to put on a school-wide, cross-disciplinary Spring event raising awareness in the school’s community for our society’s growing impact on the environment.

Creative Expression Through Music is a weekly workshop designed for people living with dementia and their caregivers. Each week features a guest performer, who then joins in on the activities through which Zach leads the participants. These include singing, body percussion, improvisation, graphic score notation, and more. The goal is for participants to not only find a respite from the hardships of their or their loved one’s disease, but also to find a new sense of fulfillment and creativity through music-making.

Meet the 2020–21 class of Community Artist Fellows and view their final collaborative projects, as well as read about CAF projects in Overtones.