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Publication Date

9-1-2009

Abstract

Ever since she was 12 years old, Dr. Laura Roelofs, assistant professor of music in Wayne State University’s College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, knew she wanted to be a performer, but it took a few more years to discover she also wanted to teach. “I planned right away on playing the violin professionally, but I realized within a few years that performing and teaching go hand in hand, and that you learn even more from teaching someone else than you do by practicing.” Roelofs hopes some of Wayne State University’s music students will experience a similar moment of discovery during their time as teachers in the String Project @ Wayne, an intensive teacher-training program that began its first semester in September 2008. The program offers three levels of lessons for the violin, viola, cello and bass for Detroit-area children grades three to five, taught by WSU music performance or music education undergraduate students under the supervision of a master teacher. Classes are small – no more than 10 students to a teacher – and range from $4 to $5 per session, depending on the class. For 2008-09, the project is funded by WSU’s President’s Research Enhancement Program and the NAMM Foundation through the National String Project Consortium. The String Project @ Wayne has also formed a collaborative partnership with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra; the project classes serve as the foundation level of the DSO’s Power of Dreams Program, a project that provides children with little to no access to string education the opportunity to participate in string classes.

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