Portland Community Music Center
Putting Creation Back in Recreation
You might assume the staff at Portland Parks and Recreation are a leisurely bunch. Not so. In fact, the Oregon-based organization works furiously to provide the best recreation service for the public, not only sports and other physical activities—the staples of parks and rec departments all over the US—but music making as well.
More than 50 years ago, Dorthea Lench, the city’s first appointed director of the department, reflected on the term “recreation.” To her, it meant more than a stroll along a wooded trail and playing croquet on a sunny day.
Beyond Paths
A professionally trained dancer, during her tenure, Lench implemented a number of arts, dance, and theater programs for the citizens of Portland—each fitting happily under the umbrella of the Parks and Recreation department.
“She was a very innovative woman,” says Michael Walsh, associate director of the Community Music Center, one of the first programs that Lench started. “She saw the role the department of recreation could play beyond the role of sports, playgrounds, and paths.”
Today, the Community Music Center that Lench started is billed as a non-degree-granting music school and as a meeting place for several musical activities. It’s also a member of the National Guild of Community Schools of Arts (www.nationalguild.org).
The center sees about 1,000 students each session. Roughly one-third of them are adults, who sign up for classes in music appreciation, chorus, guitar, violin, piano, and voice. So far, no one interested in joining the Community Music Center has been told to “take a hike,” unless of course, it was offered as a suggestion to enjoy another dimension of parks and recreation.
“We have never turned someone away due to lack of ability or money,” Walsh says. “We ask individuals how much they feel they can afford, given the cost of the program and values we’ve put on it. With few exceptions, we’ve allowed all of them to pay that very figure.”
Valuable Lessons
However, no matter the special circumstance, Walsh says no one gets a “free ride.” “We always ask that something be paid—even if it’s a dollar—in order to put a value to the lessons,” he explains. “There’s kind of a consensus within the National Guild that those who get a free program are going to put a lower value on it than if they have to pay something out of their own pocket, which places more importance on the class.”
To that end, the Community Music Center offers a variety of music scholarships to its patrons. A board of volunteers—Community Music Center, Inc.—deals with all budget issues. It was started in 1960 by a group of concerned parents and students who took steps to ensure the center would be protected from any financial burdens appearing down the road.
Specifically, their job is to keep lessons affordable by subsidizing their cost, while keeping the quality of teaching at a very high level by paying teachers an amount they deserve. “By having our scholarships maintained by Community Music Center Inc., we’re able to offer above and beyond what the city would be able and willing to cover,” says Walsh. “As the school has grown, so has its ability to provide scholarships.”
The faculty has also played a key role in maintaining the Community Music Center’s self-reliance by donating their time and talent to put on an annual performance that’s always followed by a special reception for patrons.
Walsh says the faculty concert is usually written up as one of the best concerts of the year. “Over the years, the faculty have made lots of long-term friends who’ve served as donors and every year they’ve been able to increase the scholarship fund to be self-sustaining in that way,” Walsh says.
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Open the Doors
Just last year, the center celebrated its 50th birthday. The gold anniversary was marked by several events, including a concert by renowned violinist Sergio Luca. Luca was the first musician to give a master class for the program in 1971.
The 50th anniversary celebration also inspired an interesting fundraising idea. The Community Music Center worked with the Pacific Northwest College of Arts to create a innovative fusion of music and visual arts.
“We accumulated about 80 instruments that were broken beyond reasonable repair,” explains Walsh. “They were instruments we just couldn’t throw away, though that’s pretty much what they were destined for. So we opened the doors to some of the area’s top creative artists—painters, sculptors, and conceptual artists—and put them into their hands.”
Each artist selected an instrument and went to work, not restringing violins or fitting replacement reeds, but altering each piece to fit his or her special vision.
An entire supply of musical detritus had been given new life as works of art fit for selling. They were put up for bids at a fundraiser consisting of both a silent and verbal auction. “That one event raised more money than we usually do—significantly more than $50,000, after expenses, just by selling broken instruments.” Now that is music to anyone’s ears.
“We hope we’ll always be a city program and see city support,” Walsh says. “But more and more of that financial burden will be placed on The Community Music Center, Inc. to help sustain the program for the next 50 years and beyond. It’s a challenge I know it’ll be able to meet.”
