About - MYCincinnati
Price Hill Will MYCincinnati

Mission

Music for Youth in Cincinnati (MYCincinnati) is a free after-school music program that offers students in Price Hill the opportunity to study an instrument and play in an orchestra. The mission of MYCincinnati is to use classical music as a tool for youth development and community engagement by providing urban children with access to free, intense, high-quality musical instruction. The program is run through Price Hill Will, a non-profit Comprehensive Community Development Organization that is dedicated to revitalizing the Cincinnati neighborhood of Price Hill.

 

History

MYCincinnati was founded in August 2011 by Laura Jekel. A classically trained cellist with international teaching experience, Laura traveled to Venezuela in 2010 through the prestigious Abreu Fellowship to study El Sistema, the internationally renowned system of youth orchestras that is radically transforming the lives of underserved children through music.

MYCincinnati Orchestra

About the Program

MYCincinnati students are engaged in intensive music programming for 2 hours every day after school at Roberts Academy, a Community Learning Center that emphasizes community change and economic growth through multiple school partnerships with other social, economic, and health institutions that serve children and their families. As part of MYCincinnati programming, students choose to play violin, viola, or cello in the orchestra. They also develop important cognitive and socioemotional skills through learning how to sing, read music, and collaborate with their peers through other music-related activities. By studying music, students also develop self-confidence, discipline, and social and collective responsibility: tools that will help them set and reach long-term goals.

Laura Jekel serves as the Program Director for MYCincinnati. She leads the program along with Eddy Kwon, a skilled violinist trained both in classical and jazz violin. MYCincinnati also draws talented volunteer staff from the Cincinnati Symphony and the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. MYCincinnati connects its students and their families to other institutions and opportunities in the city as well. For example, 40 MYCincinnati students and their family members recently attended a Cincinnati Symphony concert, with free tickets donated generously by the CSO. The trip was timed right after the MYCincinnati students performed their very first concert, after only 4 weeks of musical instruction. Students are looking forward to performing at an upcoming holiday concert, in conjunction with Price Hill Will's community engagement and neighborhood revitalization initiatives.

Get Involved

Have a child who may be interested in participating? Interested in Volunteering?
Donating? Making an in-kind donation? Want more information? Please get in touch with us!

 

Staff Bios

CellistLaura Jekel Program Director Laura Jekel was one of 10 people chosen to take part in the 2010-2011 Abreu Fellows Program, a training program through New England Conservatory that is helping to develop El Sistema-inspired programs in the United States. Originally from Boston, Laura has performed and taught throughout Latin America and the United States. After earning a bachelor of music degree at Indiana University in Bloomington, she traveled to Ecuador where she was a member of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Guayaquil and cello professor at the music school Fronteras Musicales Abiertas in Cuenca. During her stay she gave masterclasses and recitals around the country, including performances of the Dvorak, Schumann, Haydn C Major and Lalo cello concertos with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuenca, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Loja and the Cuen-K Ensamble. Aside from her solo and orchestral work, Laura is an avid teacher. During the summer, she has been the cello teacher at Encore/Coda, a music camp in Maine. Since returning from Ecuador in 2007, Laura has studied at Carnegie Mellon University, where she completed her master of music degree, and at the Peabody Institute.

 

Eddy Kwon, MYCincinnati, Price HillEddy Kwon is all parts violinist, composer, improviser, teacher, and artistic collaborator. An active member of the Cincinnati performing arts community for the past five years, Eddy moved to Cincinnati from his native Minnesota to attend the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music, where he studied both classical and jazz violin. Though his formal studies are rooted firmly in classical chamber and orchestral music, Eddy has always loved and explored many different traditions -- from folk to punk to jazz to hip-hop and experimental noise. Eddy has found himself playing violin in rock bands, opera orchestras, jazz ensembles, string quartets, symphonies, string bands, and experimental theater groups. He has performed original compositions and improvisations in venues ranging from the largest concert halls to the tiniest neighborhood cafes. Eddy is also a founding member of the Marburg Collective, a network of engaged performing artists committed to providing and supporting safe, vibrant spaces for the Arts in Cincinnati. Eddy loves reading novels, cooking and eating vegetables, listening to radio programs, drinking hot tea, playing chamber music, and learning about the Universe.

Staff Contact
Laura Jekel
MYCincinnati Program Director
Phone: (513) 251-3800, ext. 106
Fax: (513) 251-8500
laura [at] pricehillwill [dot] org