Learning to play an instrument requires practicing for thousands of hours and can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
While practice still makes perfect, musicians at UpBeat NYC do not have to spend a dime.
What You Need To Know
The nonprofit provides free music education to 210 students of all levels in the South Bronx
Husband and wife Liza Austria and Richard Miller co-founded UpBeat NYC in 2009
UpBeat NYC says it raises most of its money through private donations. They also receive some government grants
The nonprofit provides free music education to 210 students of all levels in the South Bronx.
Charlie Lopez, 17, can often be heard polishing his pieces for his college auditions ahead of his rehearsals at UpBeat NYC.
“Playing music is a huge privilege, largely because I’ve been in several financial situations where I couldn’t even dream of pursuing the cello in the future,” he told NY1.
Husband and wife Liza Austria and Richard Miller co-founded UpBeat NYC in 2009.
“We both felt really passionately about there being about having access [to] music education for young people,” she said.
As musicians themselves, they know the power of music education and want to eliminate the barrier to entry.
“Being in this incredible city — and I grew up here. There’s so much going on, but there is so much inequality of who has access to it and how it can be done as a community,” Austria said. “So we really felt pushed to do something, create something that would just do some music with kids.”
They started by gathering up donated instruments and had a handful of kids playing music one day a week.
Sixteen years later, there is a more than 150-person waitlist and classes six days a week.
They chose to build their program in Mott Haven to make sure kids, who might not have access to music education otherwise, are able to get it nearby.
“There are many places across the city that have concentrated resources like Manhattan. And the typical idea would be like, if you’re in an orchestra program, you’re probably traveling outside of this borough to go to it,” Miller told NY1. “We don’t see it that way at all. We see that the actual strength is here. And we just need to make space for it and get people organized about it.”
The National Association of Music Merchants estimates that nine out of ten high school students at schools with music programs graduate, where a little more than seven out of 10 students graduate from schools without music.
There are moments when UpBeat becomes more than just a music school and rather a safe haven for its students from violence on the street.
“We might hear some of those gunshots from in here. And also, people are walking by and hearing music come out of the building here. And I think that goes to the point, too,” she said. “Kids are changing what’s happening here and what it’s known for,” Austria said.
Carlos Sanchez, the program director, says the school is changing the tempo of the neighborhood.
“There are many bad things happening outside. And I think through music, we can change their [lives] and their [paths] for their [futures],” he said.
Lives are already being changed one note at a time.
Six-year-old twins Cornelia and Addie Epting are learning to play the violin at UpBeat NYC.
“We learned how to play songs,” Cornelia said.
“And a lot of stuff that’s like really important for kids. It makes you feel confident on stage,” Addie added.
UpBeat NYC says it raises most of its money through private donations. They also receive some government grants.
Many of the instruments are donated to the organization, and they even make some in the building’s basement where Sanchez started a luthier shop.
The founders are looking at getting more space to expand their program.