Spring 'Unmuted' Concert
On May 6th the men in Renovare’s ‘Unmuted’ strings program and the Oberlin Music at Grafton Choir (OMAG) directed by Dr. Jody Kerchner performed a joint concert for their friends and family! The strings program at the Grafton Correctional Institution (GCI) started under Rebecca’s direction in the fall of 2018, and although there was a break in weekly classes due to Covid restrictions, it is truly amazing to see the progress that these men have made over the last four and a half years.
This past semester we were joined each week by six undergraduate students from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. This collaboration between Renovare and Oberlin allows these students to have the very unique opportunity of participating in and helping to teach strings in a prison context. It’s a privilege to be part of their journeys as their vision expands beyond the usual routines and priorities of conservatory life.
As we were reflecting and debriefing the concert during class the following week, one of the GCI cellists said that the 90 minutes of ‘Unmuted’ class are the only 90 minutes during the week that he gets treated like a human being. He loves making music, but he said that even if he hated playing the cello he would want to be part of ‘Unmuted’ just to be treated like a human being every week.
Since 2018 the group of participants has grown, with the most recent addition being a new cohort of eight men we added to the group this past March. There are now 18 men participating in ‘Unmuted’ and they have jumped into (and continued!) learning their instruments with admirable energy and fervor. It has been particularly heartwarming to see how many of our “veteran” participants have taken members of the new cohort under their wings, working closely with them between our classes at GCI. As a result, the newer participants have made rapid progress far beyond what we could have facilitated in our weekly classes. It’s humbling and truly a blessing to see how a community of string musicians has been birthed and now taken on a life of its own at GCI in less than five years.
This performance was a first for the eight new musicians in the program, and it was a wonderfully inspiring evening that showcased the hard work that all 18 men have put into their musical journeys.
