“I have the very good fortune of living a life that included the arts,” says Dalouge Smith, who recently concluded his tenure as president and CEO of San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory, in a Monday (7/30) story at San Diego TV station KPBS. “San Diego Youth Symphony Conservatory was founded in 1945. In 1948 we moved into Balboa Park and for easily the first 50 years it was a single youth orchestra program…. There was very limited opportunity for students who … did not have means to participate…. Our Community Opus project in Chula Vista is our first effort at fulfilling our vision, which is to make music education accessible and affordable for all children. When we first started in 2010 we saw that kids were simply behaving better in their classes…. Everybody was learning better in the class…. Likewise we saw that parents were volunteering more. They suddenly felt like there was a place for them on the campus. And the more a parent is involved in their child’s education, the more that child actually succeeds in education.… They’re coming there because they all share the same passion for music-making.”
Posted August 2, 2018
