“I’m Gonna Write Something For My Mom”

Something wonderful is happening in Dallas schools. Mary Alice Rich, violinist and composer is working with Voices of Change and the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra to introduce new and classical music to students. Excited about her work, Mary Alice says, “For all of these kids, classical music of any kind is new, so I try to build a bridge from very old masterpieces to music written in our time.” She has them form teams of five and write music of their own, which she then performs for them on her violin. Once, as a class was ending, a small Hispanic boy came to her and asked for more staff paper, explaining, “I’m gonna write something for my mom.”

Contrary to what we hear about public schools so often, Mary Alice says that her experience of the schools has been very positive and uplifting. She says, “for the most part, the kids look like they’re happy to be there–and so do the teachers.” She tells of one experience in which she noticed a very talented boy having trouble accepting criticism regarding his performance. The boy’s father later explained that he was “new to their family,” and a little insecure. It turned out that the father is a teacher who had seen the need and potential of this child, and was so moved that he and his wife adopted the boy as one of their very own children.