ACROSS THE DIVIDE

Nervously, I took my place in front of a small group of local music directors. Marcelo, our coordinator here in Bolivia, had asked us the day before to do a presentation to local teachers about music education in the United States. It was very short notice and I only had that morning to put my presentation together. The topic I chose to cover — how music education is funded in the United States — was selected with the hopes that some ideas would transfer over to Bolivian culture.

When we began teaching students at the University of San Simon the week prior, I was surprised by the similarities between their desires and abilities and my own. Many of them were working on the same pieces that I myself had worked on. But their flutes were rusted, unfinished and old; their music was copies of copies, or found on IMSLP, a free music website for older music that no longer has copyright restrictions.

I gave them what I could in the form of new music, technical studies and practice techniques, but I felt it was not enough. “What was it,” I wondered, “that gave me advantages in my own music experience?” Funding. Money is a big part of a music program. But I realized I was also abundantly blessed with support and resources that money gave me access to, such as private instruction, good instruments and music books. All morning while preparing for my presentation, I searched through the handbooks and webpages of my high school and middle school bands. I looked for ways they reached out to their community, for ways in which they fundraised, for ways in which they provided resources to students who came from lower socioeconomic households.

When I stepped over the small lip of the stage and my presentation came on the screen behind me, my nerves were washed away. As I presented ideas on fundraising and community involvement, pens began to scribble furiously across paper. People were engaged. They laughed with me when I accidentally used a Spanglish term I had learned in California. Through this network of educators, we found our commonalities and were able to learn from one another across the cultural divide.