In the gymnasium, young children gather around a cellist as she plays samples of music from Bach to “Jingle Bells” – while the kids, bells in hand, join in.
Down the hall, other youth are experimenting with chords on assorted electric keyboards. In a classroom normally dedicated to visual arts, a visiting musical artist is introducing the youngsters to the foundations of rap and rhythm.
A ukulele is strummed in one alcove, while guitars of multiple sizes are passed around among the youth in another space. A vocalist is helping kids understand how we turn our voices into music, and the entire school wing is beating with the pulse of a percussionist’s drums.
It’s all part of the second annual MusiCreation Day at Hillside’s Golisano Campus at Crestwood – or, as Sheldon Tripi likes to call it, “a musical petting zoo.”
“It’s a great day,” says Tripi, a 26-year Hillside veteran who last year stepped into the role of Music Teacher at the campus in Chili, NY. “We have musicians come from around Rochester to demonstrate all kinds of different instruments, including sax, guitar, flute, drums, you name it.”
Music is a regular part of the educational curriculum at Hillside’s Golisano Campus at Crestwood. The campus serves children ages 5 to 14 as they receive 24/7 residential treatment for a variety of social and behavioral challenges; still more youth attend day treatment classes here, with buses from their home districts bringing them to and from the Chili, NY, facility each day.
Like any child, a student in these classes may have different interests or aptitudes in music. Tripi says activities like MusiCreation are intended to open kids’ eyes and ears to the musical world – while also helping them build social and emotional tolerance that works hand-in-hand with their therapeutic goals. “It’s another way of giving them a chance to accept what’s in front of them at face value, and overcome their reluctance to try something new.”
Beyond the vision and hard work of Hillside staff, key partnerships have made MusiCreation possible. Vital philanthropic support comes from MusicPower, a California-based nonprofit that supports organizations and individuals using music as a tool for solving societal problems, boosting happiness levels, and empowering young and older people. And participating musicians were gathered through the efforts of the Local Sound Collaborative, a Rochester-based initiative designed to foster musicianship as a career, a way to build community connections, and an instrument of social change.
As a musician himself, Tripi appreciates music’s life-changing potential – and he embraces the opportunity to pass that appreciation on to his Hillside students. “Having been here for so long, I’m really invested in Hillside,” he says. “I want to give these kids a musical experience they’ve never had before.”
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