Local Youth Scholarships
What We Do
Cellists for Change aspires to ensure that all youth have access to learning, creating, and performing experiences. Our Local Youth Scholarship program provides comprehensive, equitable, and inspiring music instruction to Black, Latine and Indigenous youth in the greater Boulder, Colorado area.
Full and partial scholarships are available to cover individual and group lessons, instrument rentals, cello band participation, professional concert attendance opportunities, masterclass and workshop experiences, summer programs, transportation, sheet music, books and other music supplies.
Why Music?
Music education is incredibly important for our children, giving them countless meaningful and essential life skills that are carried into adulthood and woven into the fabric of our society. The study of music builds imagination, fosters empathy and develops creative thinking, while giving children a way to process, explore and express their emotions and environment. They learn how to work together, break daunting tasks into smaller, more manageable parts, and communicate effectively. Children in music lessons are also known to have increased spatial intelligence, pattern recognition abilities, and hand-eye coordination.
Every child deserves the opportunity to study music!
Who is Eligible?
Black, Latine, and Indigenous youth ages 3-18 with financial need who reside in the greater Boulder, Colorado area. Additional opportunities available to LGBTQIA+ youth with financial need in the same geographic area.
For more information and to apply, please email us at cellistsforchange@gmail.com
The Statistics*
Black and Brown musicians continue to be vastly underrepresented in the classical music sphere. According to the League of American Orchestra’s 2016 study:
African American & Latine musicians makeup 2.4% of musicians in large orchestras
Black and Latine people make up 4-6% of all orchestra board members
These statistics are alarming seeing as Black and Latine people make up 31% of the country’s population.
*Black Violin Foundation, Inc.
Our Families
Estoy tan feliz que mi hijo estudie música porque el lo disfruta tanto. Lo veo muy contento es sus clases en los proyectos, como mi hijo dice “¡Mamá, la música es arte!” Lo beneficia en la seguridad que tiene al tocar cello se relaja y le gusta mucho aprender siempre quiere más. Estoy muy contenta de que mi hijo esté en su clase y gracias por la paciencia y por la calidad de enseñanza hacia los alumnos.
I am so happy that my son studies music, because he enjoys it so much! I see him very happy in his classes for the [musical] projects, as my son tells me “Mom, music is art!” It benefits him in the security he feels when playing cello. He is able to relax, and he likes to learn a lot, always wanting more. I am very happy that my son is in [music] lessons. Thank you for your patience and for the quality of teaching!
~Mayra, parent
Me siento muy contenta, satisfecha y emocionada porque a través de las clases de cello mis hijas están descubriendo nuevas habilidades como la creatividad. Así mismo fortalece su memoria, atención, y concentración. Formando en ellas el sentido de responsabilidad y persistencia. Muchas gracias por todo tu trabajo, paciencia y pasión para enseñar a mis hijas.
I feel very happy, satisfied and excited, because through the cello classes my daughters are discovering new skills such as creativity. It also strengthens their memory, attention, and concentration, forming in them the sense of responsibility and persistence. Thank you very much for all your work, patience and passion to teach my daughters.
~Damary, parent
Quiero compartir con ustedes lo agradecida que estoy con la maestra Psyche, por la gran oportunidad que le dio a mi hijo de poder estudiar música, mi hijo es un poco tímido cuando recién conoce a las personas, ahora en la clase de música me doy cuenta que ya está agarrando confianza y ya empieza a hablar más, a él le gusta la clase de música, y yo estoy muy orgullosa de él y espero que él siga siendo un buen niño y que siga en su práctica de chelo, creo que apoyarlo en tocar un instrumento es el mejor regalo que un niño puede recibir, espero que él siga con el mismo entusiasmo de tocar el chelo y en un futuro sea un gran músico.
I want to share with you how grateful I am to our teacher Psyche for the great opportunity she gave my son to be able to study music. My son is a little bit shy when he first meets people. Now, in music class, I realize that he is already gaining confidence and beginning to talk more. He really loves all his music classes. I am very proud of him and hope he continues in his cello studies. I think supporting a child in learning to play an instrument is the best gift a child can receive. I hope my son continues with the same enthusiasm for playing the cello and in the future is a great musician.
~Ivón, parent
“Music is for everyone. It’s not—or at least it shouldn’t be—an elitist, aristocratic club: it’s a language, it’s a means of connecting us that is beyond color, beyond race, beyond the shape of your face or the size of your stock portfolio. It’s not fair that people who look a certain way must constantly prove their worth, but at this juncture in history, we’re well beyond what’s fair. Who you are goes far beyond what you look like. My hope is [to inspire] all of you—white or Black, Asian or Native American, straight or gay, transgender or cisgender, blond or dark haired, tall or short, big feet or small feet—to do what you love. Alone, we are a solitary violin, a lonely flute, a trumpet singing in the dark. Together, we are a symphony.”
— Brendan Slocumb, from his Author’s Note in The Violin Conspiracy