Recently, I had the privilege of participating in the Donna E. Shalala MusicReach performance at the Frost School of Music donor event, Winter Wonderful. MusicReach is an incredible program that provides free music education to children, and I’m so proud to be part of it as a guitar teacher and mentor.
Throughout the past semester, I’ve been teaching a wonderful group of kids how to play guitar and perform in a band with other young musicians. At Winter Wonderful, my students performed an arrangement of All I Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey for the donors, and they did an amazing job! Watching them grow in both musical ability and confidence over the semester has been so rewarding, and I’ve truly enjoyed getting to know them better.
I’m especially grateful that several of my students are girls. It’s inspiring to see young girls taking an interest in guitar and rock music, which are often male-dominated spaces. They’re incredibly sweet, hardworking, and talented, and it’s a joy to support them on their musical journeys.
I’m so thankful for my MusicReach position and the opportunity to showcase my students’ hard work. I’m excited to continue helping them reach new milestones next semester. Thank you to the MusicReach director, Joseph Burleson, and coordinator, Zachary Brown, for this experience. Also, thank you to Eli Yaroch and Amanda Pasler for guiding me this semester; I cannot wait to continue learning from you.
