By Donna Apidone

“You’re human. You make music.”

Tim Stanley, who leads the String Project at Sacramento State, believes everyone has music within them, but he understands that most people do not pursue music as a career. He is gratified that classical music lessons in his classroom improve his fourth through eighth grade students’ understanding and enjoyment of the medium. 

“You don’t have to be a performer. You can just be someone who goes to concerts and gets it.”

That philosophy of arts education is inherent in Proposition 28. Passed in 2022 — and which went into effect in 2023 — Prop 28 invests about $800 million to $1 billion annually into arts and music in California public schools. The proposition’s emphasis on the importance of the arts also reflects the thoughts held by the county’s education administrators.

“We educate the whole child,” said Steven Winlock, executive director of the Sacramento County Office of Education(SCOE) School of Education. “Prop 28 is a gamechanger.”

Prior to the passage of Prop 28, arts education varied greatly among schools in the Sacramento area (and throughout California).

“We represent 13 school districts, and each district was different,” Winlock said. “Arts education was not institutionalized into our system.” 

Although high school students had access to classes and structure, “on the elementary school level, it wasn’t formalized, but it was exposure,” Winlock said. Although music has not yet been fully integrated into all grades in all schools, he sees a solid start toward that goal with the inclusion of music at the elementary school level. “You need to build a foundation in the very, very beginning of their school career.”

Without dedicated funding, there was a gap between available coursework in school districts and the University of California system’s requirement that all students complete one year (two semesters) of a single visual and performing arts course to be admitted to one of its campuses. 

Prop 28 doesn’t meet all of a school district’s arts budget needs, Winlock explained. Each district has some discretion to use monies from other sources, including booster club and federal grants. With funding, he hopes the recruitment of designated arts teachers becomes the norm.

“In 50 years, I would like to walk into a school and they have ‘The Music Teacher.’ They are on the staff. I want those to be part of the program,” Winlock said. 

McClatchy High School in Sacramento is one of several schools with designated arts teachers and a strong visual and performing arts program (VAPA); a program with funding augmented by booster clubs. Jorge Munoz, one of two music teachers at McClatchy, took the job 13 years ago hoping to further develop the music program, which started in 1937: Munoz knew he could give students a lot more.

In addition to the “traditional ensembles” (two choirs, concert band and orchestra), McClatchy plans to build its commercial music track as a pathway to the commercial music program at Sacramento City College.

Success in a high school music program depends on basic training at the elementary level. Like SCOE’s Winlock, McClatchy principal Andrea Egan looks forward to increased arts education in the lower grades so kids have a stronger base when they reach high school. She said of the 401 students in the VAPA program, 80 are musicians who “come to school excited to be part of something bigger than themselves. They are academically on track.”

The students’ excitement may well be the result of their teachers’ enthusiasm. “McClatchy’s VAPA program is an example of what can be,” Munoz said.

Other musical opportunities

Tim Stanley, who leads the String Project at Sacramento State, is enthusiastic about his work. He is one of two master teachers overseeing Sac State music students as they instruct musicians in fourth through eighth grade.

He calls it a win-win-win.

“The String Project is really about opportunity,” he said, noting that the experience is often the first connection to a college campus for kids and their families. As lessons progress, eighth graders quickly learn their technique, allowing them to mentor the younger kids.

The student teachers win, too, as they deepen their knowledge of music.

“They learn how deeply they have to know something in order to teach it,” Stanley said.

Although the goal of the String Project is to prepare elementary and middle school kids for a high school ensemble, not all schools have orchestras. Some of Stanley’s former students shifted from classical strings to marching band so they could enjoy performing at their school.

School of Rock offers possibilities for young musicians beyond traditional school music ensembles. Jared Casstevens, general manager of the Carmichael location, explained the variety of opportunities available.

Children as young as 3 and 4 years old learn music basics through games and interaction. The progression of classes continues for all ages through adulthood. Annual auditions help decide who will be part of the House Band.

“Drums are the most popular instrument,” Casstevens said. Other favorites are keyboard, bass, guitar and vocals.

The ultimate desire of most students is to play in a band, and House of Rock integrates that goal into its structure. Students are assigned to bands with other players in similar skill levels. Every two months, student bands perform at venues in the area.

“The stage is the best teacher,” Casstevens said. “Stage fright is normal, and helping students overcome that is a big part of what we do.”

What the pros say

Susan Lamb Cook, a cellist in the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera, and a UC Davis lecturer of cello and chamber music, connects the dots between music and life lessons.

“Music can help children learn to recognize patterns and sequences, concepts which can also be found in reading and math,” she said. “It provides the opportunity to learn collaboration.”

Jacob Swedlow is leader and drummer of LabRats, who recently collaborated with The Philharmonik. Although he had a prestigious musical education, he admits some practical lessons were left out.

Swedlow attended Rio Americano High School, known for its jazz program, and Oberlin College. He was part of the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program at Kennedy Center and the Generations Master Class in Switzerland.

Missing from his education at Oberlin was how to get a gig with a band or book with a club. That omission inspired Swedlow to share what he knows with young performers who join in LabRats’ Sunday Sessions at The Torch Club.

“I tell young rappers, ‘You can do this,’” he said.

Lillian Frances grew up in a musical family and started her training at an early age. It wasn’t until she was a young adult that electronic music became her passion. As she found her style, she learned to record and produce her own work.

“Graduating college was when I realized this was a world I want to understand,” she said.

Frances now shares her knowledge by teaching a two-month music production course.

When asked about Stanley’s hypothesis that everyone is a musician, Lillian Frances and Jacob Swedlow agree, albeit humbly.

“People are intimidated to say they are musicians,” Frances observed, “but I very much believe that everyone can play music.”

“What we do as musicians is so vulnerable,” Swedlow said. “It feels really good to work on something bigger than yourself with someone else.”

This story was funded by the City of Sacramento’s Arts and Creative Economy Journalism Grant to Solving Sacramento. Following our journalism code of ethics and protocols, the city had no editorial influence over this story and no city official reviewed this story before it was published. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review, Sacramento Observer and Univision 19. Sign up for our “Sac Art Pulse” newsletter here.