Merit School thrives on its Lawrence connections
By Duffie A. Adelson, ’73
Lawrence
Today magazine, Fall 2006
Open the doors to Merit School of
Music at
the Joy Faith Knapp Music Center in Chicago’s West Loop, and you enter a magical musical haven. A typical
day finds students of all ages, sizes, and ethnicities entering those doors
with instrument cases large and small. Some, who have no cases in tow, may
be heading to a piano studio, a vocal class, the music library, or perhaps
to the concert hall to hear a performance. All have entered for a love of
music, and once inside, each is enveloped by the special sense of community
that helps define the “Merit experience.”
From the beginning
In 1979 the arts were removed from the elementary schools in Chicago, and Merit
was founded as a place where students could continue their training so that
their talents would not go to waste. Over the past 27 years, Merit
School of Music has changed the lives and future prospects of more than 45,000 students.
Currently, 119
Merit faculty members provide applied music instruction to more
than 5,000 students annually.
Merit began with 150 students and nine teachers, adding many programs over
the years until we found ourselves bursting at the seams. Classrooms were
filled to overflowing in our small rented space, located in the basement
of an historic
downtown train station. It got to the point where our recital space was unable
to accommodate both performers and audience at the same time
.
In 2002, Merit’s board of trustees launched a campaign to purchase a
new home — by far the biggest step the organization had ever taken. It
was, actually, not a step but a leap — a leap of faith, but one that
would, in time, transform the school forever. The school stepped forward,
though not without trepidation, and in the end, raised 19.6 million dollars,
allowing
it to purchase, renovate, and furnish a two-story building that had been
owned by a cable television company.
In June 2005 came the move to Merit’s new home, the Joy Faith Knapp
Music Center, a facility that includes a beautiful, 372-seat concert hall,
a recording
studio, a music library, and 52 teaching spaces and practice rooms. The building
has the space that was so desperately needed for many years, it has filled
students and parents with tremendous pride, and it has inspired the students
to accomplish
more in the past year than ever before.
Goals and growth
My
history with Merit goes back to 1982, when I was hired by co-founders Emma
Endres-Kountz and Alice S. Pfaelzer to initiate an outreach program for string
students. I knew then how fortunate I was to have discovered an organization
whose mission so closely aligned with my own dual goals of bringing the world
of music to children and advancing the larger social agenda by allowing diverse
groups of people to get to know and respect one another. It has been an enormous
privilege to take part in the growth of this amazing
organization over the past 24 years and to see how this powerful approach can
transform lives.
Simply put, by bringing students together based on a common interest in music
and providing rigorous training within a nurturing environment, Merit is able
to train the audience and performers of tomorrow, while cultivating societal
leaders who are able to see fellow human beings as kindred spirits where others
would see only racial, ethnic, and socio-economic differences.
Financial aid
Merit has a unique place in the world of community music schools. It provides
a tremendous amount of financial support in order to level the playing field
for motivated students; its programs are designed as a comprehensive, sequential
musical pathway capable of taking a beginner to a college/conservatory level
of performance; and a powerful sense of community helps inspire students towards
personal achievement and growth — both musical and academic.
Merit’s goal is to help students develop musical skills that will open
the doors to college and college scholarships, regardless of the chosen major.
Each year 95% to 100% of seniors graduating from Merit’s most select
program, the Alice S. Pfaelzer Tuition-Free Conservatory, go on to college,
many with
substantial scholarships.
Central to the school's mission is a commitment to assisting motivated students
who could not otherwise afford the high cost of a comprehensive music education.
Merit provides nearly $2 million in financial support annually in order to
ensure that classes, lessons, transportation, and instruments are affordable.
Students
who are residents of public housing receive extra support, including mentoring.
In addition, advanced students are helped to attend summer music camps with
full or substantial scholarships, and professional one-on-one college counseling
is
provided free of charge to high school students and their parents.
Programs and people
Interested visitors from across the country and around the world come to Merit
each year to observe the comprehensive continuum in action. Through a sequence
of instructional programs, each leading to the next and designed around an
increasingly advanced curriculum, thousands of students each year are introduced
to the joys
of music-making, and those who demonstrate a high level of interest are invited
to join one of two comprehensive programs at the West Loop site.
Those two programs, the Preparatory Program, which meets on weekdays after
school, and the Alice S. Pfaelzer Tuition-Free Conservatory, which meets on
Saturdays,
offer 650 students a weekly, rigorous curriculum of music instruction that
includes music theory, large ensembles and chamber ensembles, private and/or
small group
lessons, performance assemblies and performance opportunities around the city,
master classes, and college counseling. Students audition for these programs
and are placed in classes according to their level of proficiency.
Merit’s Bridges: Partners in Music program provides on-site instruction
in band instruments, string, piano, general music, choir, guitar, musical theatre,
and ethnic drumming classes to more than 4,000 students at 70 Chicago public
schools, community centers, and homeless-shelter sites. Merit offers group classes
for beginners through the Dynamic Starts Program, an early-childhood program
for 
infants through seven years of age, and through Alegre Strings, a Suzuki-based
violin ensemble whose members are primarily students from Chicago’s Latino
community. Repertoire is drawn in equal measures from the Suzuki literature
and the Mexican culture. The Summer Festival provides a wonderful curriculum
of classes
for more than 400 students. All told, Merit offers 750 group classes (140 on
Saturday alone) and nearly 500 private lessons weekly.
Merit students and ensembles continue to win many awards and competitions.
They have given numerous performances in the major performance venues in Chicago,
including Symphony Center and the Harris Theater for Music and Dance and on
classical
radio station WFMT and have appeared on the radio show, From the Top, which
features the finest young classical performers in the country.
Merit students are fortunate to learn from an outstanding faculty of 119 professional
performing musicians who have a passion for teaching, are dedicated to Merit’s
mission, and are committed to providing challenging and comprehensive instruction
to develop the full musical potential of our students.
A sense of community
Merit’s tremendously diverse student body is drawn to the school through
a shared love of music. Chicago has the unfortunate distinction of being the
most segregated city in the county. However, at Merit, close friendships quickly
form between students of diverse backgrounds — students who would not likely
have met one another — as they share music stands and bond through the
intimate experience that comes from making music together.
Merit students represent all 77 of Chicago’s neighborhoods, many suburbs,
and every economic circumstance and ethnicity. A great many come from communities
where high school graduation is the exception rather than the rule and students
inspire one another to higher levels of achievement. Stereotypes disappear as
students and families get to know one another for the soul within, rather than
the outer façade.
Peer-to-peer support abounds at Merit. Serious music students who had been
shunned within their academic schools are cheered and applauded by their peers
at Merit.
A powerful sense of community develops from the combination of deep student
friendships and a rigorous music curriculum taught by a demanding but nurturing
faculty.
In this environment, students not only develop highly polished and sophisticated
musical skills but also mature into responsible, compassionate, well-mannered,
and ambitious young adults. In other words, Merit raises children through music.
As its tag line states, Merit School of Music is dedicated to “making music — building
lives.”
The Lawrence connection
I arrived at Lawrence as a freshman in the fall of 1969 to find myself surrounded
by like-minded peers who possessed boundless energy and an abundance of intellectual
curiosity and idealism. There to provide focus and to ignite those flames into
a bonfire was my flute professor, wind ensemble director and mentor, Fred “Prof” Schroeder.
Prof was a deeply spiritual person whose love of music was equal to his love
of nature and whose high standards were legendary. He seemed always able to see
beyond a student’s proficiency to the underlying potential, and he was
relentless in his insistence that each student meet that potential. He showed
me that an adult who maintains passion and idealism can inspire young people
to have the confidence and courage to be true to their inner convictions. Over
the past 24 years, I have striven to instill Prof’s essence in all that
is Merit.
Since Merit’s founding, its students have benefited from wonderful Lawrence
graduates who have served as faculty, staff, and interns. Many Merit graduates
have attended college at Lawrence.
Today at Merit, Lawrence is proudly represented by alumni including, in addition
to me, Michael McLaughlin, ’75, director of our jazz studies program
(pictured, with students); Allison Walter Volkman, ’97, development director;
Tom Clippert, ’91,
guitar instructor; and Anna Najoom, ’01, clarinet instructor.
Current and recently graduated Lawrence students who attended Merit include
Christine Whack, ’07, Gwendolyn Kelly-Masterton, ’09, and Erica Marshall, ’04.
I am proud that the Lawrence experience has been woven into the very fabric
of Merit’s unique tapestry.
Editor’s note: As part of the college’s recent Focus
on: Chicago initiative, the Lawrence Chamber Players performed a free concert
at the Merit School of Music on May 20.