(bright music) >> Michael: This orchestra, the Gary Civic Symphony Orchestra, will be 83 years old.

You know, we have some younger players that are beginners, and some older players that are beginners, and we have some seasoned professional players.

>> Nicolas: It's very important that concert artists teach, whether it's a beginner or it's an advanced student, I get a lot back from it, I learn a lot from teaching.

And it's important to keep that attitude of the perpetual student, you know, as long as you live.

(gentle music) >> Luke: I don't want my instruments to sit on a shelf and get dusty somewhere.

I want someone to play it, and then pass it on to their kid, and their child plays it, and then their child plays it.

That to me, would be the best thing that could happen to my instruments.

I want them to be loved.

>> Sade: We focus on arts and wellness for all people.

We do a variety of arts programming, so you think of visual arts, but we also do dance, music, photography, many different disciplines of arts.

>> Dale: Doing as much as you can, as quickly as you can, is important to me.

Life is short.

And the earlier we get started helping our community, the better off our community will be.

>> Narrator: Family, home, work, self, of all the things you take care of, make sure you are near the top of the list.

NorthShore Health Centers offers many services to keep you balanced and healthy.

So take a moment, self-assess, and put yourself first from medical to dental, vision, chiropractic, and mental health, NorthShore will help get you centered.

You help keep your world running, so make sure to take care of yourself.

NorthShore Health Centers, building a healthy community, one patient at a time.

(bright music) >> Narrator: Eye on the Arts is made possible in part by South Shore Arts, the John W. Anderson Foundation, and the Indiana Arts Commission, Making the Arts Happen.

Additional support for Lakeshore Public Media and local programming is made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(gentle music) >> This orchestra, the Gary Civic Symphony Orchestra, will be 83 years old.

You know, we have some younger players that are beginners and some older players that are beginners, and we have some seasoned professional players, older and younger than, great players.

And then there's a sense of mentorship within the group, not just the musicians, but with me.

I've had members of the orchestra that mentored me in terms of making me a better conductor.

(gentle music) Seeing the members, you know, the age differences and us working together, think about it, where else do you really kind of have that?

Plus there's wisdom that goes both ways in terms of the age and insight, it's gained from being around people that are older and people that are younger than you.

(gentle music) The process in picking the music, there's quite a bit of lively discussion about things that we do.

For this Christmas concert, we started rehearsal, say about six weeks, about roughly somewhere in there.

And since it's a volunteer group, coordinating schedules can be a little bit tricky.

(gentle music) What I try to do is to be kind of empathetic and put myself in the place of the musician.

And I'm trying to make sure that I'm communicating the idea as clearly as possible, whatever the difficulty might be.

It's almost like more like, well, you know, you're working your lens to make the picture clearer as you film.

And each rehearsal is to make more clarity, to try to make more clarity.

I want them to feel that we've given them something that that'll help make their day better, their week better, their month better, and something that they can go back in their memory and say, "I remember that, that made me feel."

I want them to feel.

Sometimes you play music that does make them feel uncomfortable.

But I guess if anything, it's to make people feel.

(bright music) For one thing, Gary has a rich music history.

You could go to any church on a Sunday, and hears somebody sing, or some musician that's gonna really knock you out.

Come on, The Spaniels, The Jackson Five, Vee-Jay Records, you know, they were the first people to sign The Beatles.

To me, it's an honor to be involved in music in Gary, and just to see the development of when I was teaching of younger musicians to see that aha moment when they get something with a piece.

That's a wonderful thing.

And it's a wonderful thing with the orchestra.

When you see the aha moment, we all get it.

"Oh man, this is where this is."

You know, just the process of starting at the beginning, and going and getting into the end, you know, I love that.

I taught at the Emerson Visual and Performing Arts.

The way the students worked together as peers, how they educated each other was a wonderful thing to watch.

>> I joined the orchestra back in, I believe it was around 1979.

I love playing my instrument.

When I first started playing the flute in the sixth grade, it helped me escape some different things that were going on in my life.

And in the process of doing that, my love of playing, and what it helped me to do just got better and better.

And so all I wanted to do was play.

And then when I play, people were like, "Oh my goodness, that's good, I like that."

You know, and they were feeling good.

And when I can do something that puts a smile on someone else's face, it makes me want to do it that much more.

So I practice, and I do what I have to do in order to serve, to give back.

>> Music is my vocation, and it's my love.

I've been playing an instrument since I was 12 years old, and that's over 70 years.

When my father took me to Symphony Hall in Chicago for the first time, and I got hooked then on classical music, okay?

And that can happen from the experiences we have here in the Gary Symphony.

And I hope that happens.

I love music, that's my love, my passion.

>> My hopes are that the orchestra will attract more people from the community in general into the orchestra, bringing more people in, and doing a diverse body of work, and encouraging original composition, and encouraging writers to present things for the orchestra to play, to foster a love, a love of music.

And maybe make some, I want some kid to look at it and say, "Hey, I could do that.

If he can do that, I can do that."

I want that to happen, just to be inspirational.

(upbeat music) (audience applauding) (bright music) >> I was lucky enough to go to a school system in Steubenville, Ohio that still had an orchestra program.

Now, as a new fourth grader, I really wanted to be a rock star, and I wanted to be like Jimi Hendrix, like Brian May.

And the orchestra director came into our classroom one day and with a violin and said, "Who here might want to play one of these things?"

And I thought to myself, that sure looks like a guitar.

So I'll just start on that, and then switch over to guitar.

That's pretty much what I wanted to do the rest of my life.

So I did, ended up here, started the Michigan City Chamber Music Festival, was principal's second violin of the South Bend Symphony for over 30 years.

And I teach, you know, students today too.

It's very important that concert artists teach, whether it's a beginner, or it's an advanced student, I get a lot back from it.

I learn a lot from teaching.

And it's important to keep that attitude of the perpetual student, you know, as long as you live.

(bright music) (gentle music) I have a couple students that would be defined as challenged.

Those are very special students.

And you know, especially thinking of one, she's very brilliant.

I mean, she really has a lot of heart, and she picks up the violin rather quickly.

And I have another one that has ADHD who's younger than her, I think second grade right now, you know, and he's been studying with me for a couple years.

With these students and with many of my very young students, I use something called the Suzuki Method that was developed by a German-Japanese man named Shinichi Suzuki.

And it's also called the Mother-Tongue Method, where you kind of teach the violin and musical ideas through rote, not so much the printed note on the page, you know.

As they get older, if they have interest in violin still, we move away from Suzuki, start using more of a traditional method.

That's a very nature, natural way to approach the violin.

Not so much math and science, you know?

And I found all of that kind of works together very well in teaching.

(gentle music) Joey, my little terrier mix dog there, asked my parents of the students, "Anybody afraid of dogs?"

Blah, blah, blah, "We have a tiny little."

They're like, "Oh, we love dogs," you know?

So he came in, and he was here for a young boy.

I've mentioned him actually, and he has some ADHD, some autism.

And it was a challenge, you know, to start him on violin, even with that Mother-Tongue Method from Suzuki.

And I had Joey in, and he was all over the dog hugging and vice versa.

Joey loved him too.

So I decided, you know what?

Let's let this go for a bit.

So we just played with the dog for five or 10 minutes, you know?

And then we had the best violin lesson we ever had, a lot of focus on that violin.

So much of his energy went to that dog, and his love of the dog.

You know, I've talked to both parents.

Let me know how our violin lessons can be an extension of whatever treatments they get.

Whatever, are there issues in school?

Maybe something can be helped in the violin lessons.

You know, are there bullying issues?

Many of these challenged students suffer that, and don't ever tell their parents about it, their teachers about it, you know?

Do you suspect something?

Maybe we can talk about it.

(gentle music) (gentle music) What I love doing, what I'm here to do is to share great music.

I think I'm most skilled in performing and talking to the audience about the music that I play.

But another way to share great music is to teach an instrument, whether it's a five-year-old child, you know, I've had adults that were in their 80s that wanted to learn violin.

I've had very, very good advanced students, you know, in their late teens and 20s.

And whatever you're doing as a teacher, you are sharing great music.

That's my inspiration.

But it's very important that the love of music is nurtured them.

And you kind of let them have fun with music.

You must really be sure that they have fun.

And this comes from a surprising place.

It comes from my old Ukrainian teacher, Mark Borosovski Zingher.

And I remember in one of his pedagogue classes, he just wrote out some of the most important things, especially early on, if you're teaching a beginner and one fun with music, love of music is most important early on.

And I remember one of the lines in his broken English said, "Many teachers teach way they were taught," in capitals, "Mistake," exclamation, exclamation.

(laughs) He says, "Learn each student, get to know each one."

You know, and I think, we think that these are very modern ideas.

But the most successful teachers, I've been doing this for centuries, you know.

They actually realize, "Oh, gotta get to know each one of these guys?"

Even my older students, the successful ones, I talked to them at the beginning of the lesson, "How's school going?"

You know, "How are things?

How are you?"

But there's something about just, this is a safe place.

This is a place of trust, I'm the teacher, you can trust me.

Just having that opens them up and feels like, "Okay, I can do this, I can share music with this person."

(gentle music) >> My parents let me take this job after school that was in a cabinet shop.

And I started working there, and anything that was detailed and kind of immaculate, I really liked that kind of work.

Then I started at my brother-in-law's violin shop.

I just wanted something that would challenge me a little more in repairing violins, and I did really well at it.

And pretty quickly, I was doing the majority of the repairs in the shop.

And then I've been here now eight plus years doing this stuff, so.

(gentle music) I'm into violin making a lot more as an engineer than a performer, obviously.

I like music, but I like listening to music.

(laughs) We're dealing in a margin of error that's a couple of points of a millimeter, so it's a lot more engineering than you might think.

You take this piece of wood and figuring out what it's going to sound like at the end of crafting it into an instrument.

You have to be very, very specific with your measurements.

For the most part, we're copying the greatest sounding violins on the planet.

The violin, as we know it was made by Andrea Amati in the mid 1500.

And then the name that everybody knows, Antonius Stradivarius, is kind of the one that perfected the violin.

Since Antonius Stradivarius, the violin really hasn't changed.

There are other makers that have made after Strad that are very, very good makers.

But since he has that kind of label as the maker for royalty, he's kind of captured that title, and he was alive at a very important era for violin making.

His craftsmanship was very, very clean for the day.

He pushed the design of the violin to an extraordinary amount.

Antonius Stradivarius, they estimate made about 1,000 instruments.

That is a very happening maker in today's terms.

(gentle music) There are a lot of other really competent players here every time I finish an instrument.

The moment of truth is when you walk out in the main room, and have someone play your instrument for the first time, and you string it up, all the varnish is dried, you hand it to this person.

(gentle music) (bright music) When I'm making an instrument, I am tapping on the pieces of wood and tuning them to certain notes.

I am looking for sound travel through the wood to be very fast.

So we measure the speed of sound.

How you make the arching really, really affects how it's going to sound.

How much air mass you make inside the instrument is usually in relation to how big this instrument will sound.

And there's not really one right thing, because I'll have a performer come in here, and they'll play 15, 20 different instruments before deciding what instrument they like.

Everyone's looking for something different.

So it kind of works out regardless of what you make.

Sooner or later, there's going to be someone that really connects with that instrument.

(upbeat music) Some of the instruments I make are a commission.

Usually they'll show me pictures of something they've seen and say, I want the color this or that.

More commonly than a commission job, I just make the instrument however I like.

And I kind of like making the instrument just however I like because it gives me full creative license.

And I would say that's what differentiates modern violins.

We're copying the outlines and the shapes of Stradivarius, but as far as the aesthetic and as far as the carving you do on it, it's all in your hand, it's all up to you.

If there's no customer saying, I want it specifically this way, right?

Try to use my full creative license on instruments, pushing myself kind of to my limit on what I can do.

I don't want my instruments to sit on a shelf, and get dusty somewhere.

I want someone to play it, and then pass it on to their kid, and their child plays it, and then their child plays it.

That to me, would be the best thing that could happen to my instruments.

I want them to be played, and I want them to be used.

I want them to be loved.

If these instruments that I make are taken care of, they can last three, four, maybe more generations.

It does make me want to make my instruments very, very well, because you know that this is going to be cherished and loved by somebody.

And maybe even for more than the fact that I made it, they might love it just because it's grandpa's, and you want grandpa's violin to be something special.

It's kind of an honor in a way.

(gentle music) I think there's something special about starting with raw chunks of wood.

And by the end, you have this intricately carved, beautiful sounding, beautiful looking violin or instrument, and there's no substitute for that.

There are a lot of very good makers that have poured time into me, and that's part of what makes me to the level I'm at today.

I started this when I was 16 years old.

(gentle music) I would like to make instruments that have never been seen before, especially in their aesthetic and their sound.

Now that I'm into violin making, I want to be one of the best.

So the pursuit is gonna be make a lot of instruments, get my name out there, get my instruments out there.

(bright music) (gentle music) >> We focused on arts and wellness for all people.

We got started in 2015 where we focused on youth, arts, and mental wellness.

The cool thing about our organization too, is that we do a variety of arts programming.

So you think of visual arts, but we also do dance, music, photography, many different disciplines of arts.

(gentle music) I think it's a huge void in a person's life experience, you know?

And that is part of another motivation of why I started this program, was knowing that, hey, this is a need, this is a lack in our communities.

It's getting cut from tons of budgets all around our nation.

And when you don't have that, you're kind of missing that opportunity to be able to express yourself in that light, or bring out something beautiful that the world needs to see.

Or even, like I said, the opportunity to express yourself.

And we need that, we need art.

And when you don't have it, the world's a little more dry, a little more bland, you know, a little more black and white.

And the times that we're in, we need color, we need life, we need things that inspire us.

And also art brings people together, you know?

So if we don't have that in these communities, you know, we could have more unity, we could have more things to connect on if we did have it.

So when you're lacking that, you're kind of missing a huge piece that could be a connector, that could be a bridge builder even.

(gentle music) Since we have so many different groups, I mean, if we think about the youth.

The youth, it's so fun to watch them discover themselves.

They may start off shy, you know, they may start off like, "I'll never dance in public," or I'll never, you know, do this and that.

But as you teach them, as they grow their relationships with other people, you see them come out, their confidence grows, you know?

And I've had them tell me like, "Wow, I never thought I would do something like this."

You know, because we aim to have showcases where like maybe after a six-week class, eight-week class, we will have them present something.

And so it really helps build their self-esteem, their confidence.

And if we touch on people in recovery, adults in recovery from substance use or mental health challenges, when you're overcoming substance use addiction, right?

And those things, you're looking for new ways, even for your brain to connect the dots.

And so when you're getting a new hobby, a new craft, it's something very powerful, because you're used to kind of going to this substance for the dopamine or the different high and rush that you receive, whereas you can get those things from art, from music, from dance, you know?

And so that's where it's so powerful to say, you know what?

I am able to replace something negative with something positive, you know?

And that's really a key thing to being successful in recovery, is to say, how am I going to replace these negative behaviors with positive behaviors?

So it's powerful.

(gentle music) >> Those are the activities that you want people involved in.

The more what we call pro-social activities, things that are gonna get them involved with people that are on the right track doing the right thing.

And this program really has allowed the women to get out and just enjoy each other.

They always are laughing about it.

They're having a good time when they're out here doing it.

And that's really important, because it's not just about what they did, why they came in here, but how do we move forward.

And this is just one of those areas that we get to work with them and help them in that process doing this as well.

(gentle music) >> You know, remember being a kid, and you're in class and say, "Hey, we're gonna field day."

And everyone's like, "Yay," you know?

So when you get to go out here, we get to leave the identity, the atmosphere inside, right?

And we get to become who we want.

Like there's some times when people lay down, they'll have like rocks or they can become characters, and you see like people open up, even their postures become more expansive.

You see people smile, and you see people checking on each other's photos, and you see a lot of support and like, "Hey, you got this."

You know, somebody looks at a photo, they only like, "No, no, no, that's good, that's good."

So you get to really see like, while you're doing it, and you see the uplifting and the support there.

And then when you look at the photos, you see the progression.

So it's really, really awesome.

(gentle music) >> I think that it's more about like the camaraderie that we all have when we get to, like come out here and like have fun, and like making those memories, for sure.

Not necessarily like about, like if the picture's like good or bad, but just the fact that like we all got to come out here, and like do it together.

Honestly, I'm really grateful to the program.

I'm grateful to being here.

It's gotten me to look at my life in a different way, and I'm so grateful to all of the friends that I have here.

I'm grateful to Miss Machura, I really appreciate the opportunity to turn my life around.

And I'm just super excited to start my life.

(gentle music) >> Art is so important, I feel to quality of life and mental wellness, because it brings out a different side of us.

Like we work from a different part of our brain where it's not just, you know, mathematical or those type of things.

It's also emotion, it's also creativity.

And so it's very important to have those outlets, and to be able to recognize the beauty that we can create and that we can also see from ourself and from others, and explore how we can expand that, you know?

And I think for young people and even adults, you know, it's super important to express that.

You know, we don't wanna bury it, we don't wanna keep it inside because it's a gift.

You know, no matter what type of art you do or, you know, and art is so subjective that, you know, you may not think your art is great, but others may think it's amazing.

So I don't think that we should hold it inside.

I think that it was meant for the world to see, and to be able to just have that other outlet, you know?

Because sometimes we don't know how to say things in words, but we can put it on a canvas, you know, we can put it in a dance, or make a film, you know?

So it's another way of self-expression.

>> Dale: Doing as much as you can, as quickly as you can, is important to me.

Life is short.

And the earlier we get started helping our community, the better off our community will be.

>> Narrator: Family, home, work, self, of all the things you take care of, make sure you're near the top of the list.

NorthShore Health Centers offers many services to keep you balanced and healthy.

So take a moment, self-assess, and put yourself first from medical to dental, vision, chiropractic, and mental health.

NorthShore will help get you centered.

You help keep your world running, so make sure to take care of yourself.

NorthShore Health Centers building a healthy community, one patient at a time.

(bright music) >> Narrator: Eye on the Arts is made possible in part by South Shore Arts, the John W. Anderson Foundation, and the Indiana Arts Commission, Making the Arts Happen.

Additional support for Lakeshore Public Media, and local programming is made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(gentle music) >> You really have to think about how do you support your child through all the developmental aspects of life.

(gentle music) >> When we have those positive relational experiences, and we learn that we're worthy and it's a safe place to be, and that there's hope in the world.

We take that with us.

(gentle music) >> It is really a learning process between two people, and that's what building a relationship is all about.

That's such a satisfying and bonding thing for you and your child.

You feel it, and your child feels it too.

And if a child receives comfort, support, nurturance, and protections, then they learn safety, security, trust, and hope, and think about what a world we would live in.

(gentle music) >> Narrator: A $100,000 matching grant, generously provided by the Legacy Foundation, will double your contribution today.

Building Blocks, a community investment with everlasting returns.

(upbeat music) (bright music)