One by one, each child entered the room, walked behind the half-circle of keyboards to the center, and gave a brief self-introduction.
“My name is Elise, I’m in the third grade. What I like about piano is learning new songs and playing with friends.” “I’m Ian, and I have a baby sister.”
They each told us the name of the piece they’d be playing, sat down at the center keyboard and played—more or less flawlessly. Then they rose and bowed to the “audience”: videographer, photographer, writer and the Keys 2 Success teachers and board members in attendance.
The children, in their comments and in the pieces they played, defined themselves. Dante, introducing his piece called Cool Groove, said, “I like it because it makes me feel cool, and happy.” Onya, a glowing sixth grader, worked the audience like a pro as she named her piece and ended (with a dazzling smile) saying “I hope you like it!” Thaila told us that one surprising fact about her is that she likes playing with Lego; then she sat down and let her fingers fly over the keys in a fast-paced Hallowe’en-inspired piece. Fifth-grader Azariah likes to hang out with friends when they’re all playing piano together.
It’s one of the incredible things that happens when children play music: they discover who they are, and who they can be. “Music unleashes self-expression,” observed Jee-Hoon Krska, the founder and lead teacher of K2S. “So, yes, we’re teaching classical piano, but what these kids are learning in total is much more powerful.”
The seven students who performed in a Newark recording space on October 18 are among 100 elementary and middle-school children who now participate in K2S, from nine Newark public schools. Lessons are virtual since last March. This makes it easier to stay in touch with the few students who have moved (two are still taking lessons from Virginia, and one from Las Vegas). But Zoom has its limits when it comes to teaching finger position, for example. But Ms. Krska and her teaching staff are undaunted—as are her students.
When each of the children had performed his or her piece, all seven returned to the half-circle of keyboards and each took a seat at one of the instruments. At the keyboard in the center of the semi-circle, instructor Elijah Souels began playing his arrangement of the piece the group would play together: Lift Every Voice and Sing. On cue, the seven children joined in on their keyboards, and soloist Chyantre “KeeKee” Swann gave voice to the song’s inspiring words. In those moments, the power of music to unleash connection also emerged. Together, they were playing an anthem with a 100-year-old history. Several of the students had parents or grandparents who had sung along with them as they practiced. Music reaches across generations, across history and cultures, to convey things that words alone are inadequate to carry.
One of the youngest and shyest performers on Sunday was Jaziah, a petite third-grader who wore a dress (unusual for her) and refused to take off her mask as she spoke into the microphone. “When I play piano, I feel beautiful,” she said. When she had finished her piece, she stood and instead of bowing, as Ms. Krska had instructed, she curtsied. Jaziah is right: Music makes us beautiful.
This is the first in a series of features on teachers and students involved in our fall performance, recorded at =Space in Newark. Next: A conversation with Elijah Souels on his creative process for arranging “Lift Every Voice and Sing” for the student pianists and solo voice.
