Up With School Arts Encourages Youth Participation in Music

Little Compton residents Jack and Lillian Edwards are to thank for a continued effort to try and bring more music to local children.

The couple is behind Up With School Arts, a program that raises interest and encourages participation in the musical arts for children in school districts throughout the region.

Fueled by public donations by organizations such as the Howard Bayne Fund, Little Compton Municipal Trust and the Newport County Fund, Up With School Arts has thrown a number of concerts over the past few years aimed at inspiring children’s interests in music. The organization has also supported numerous programs encouraging active participation in the arts.

These programs have included supporting the instruction of the Wilbur McMahon School band, maintaining the educational presence of a professional percussionist at the school, and providing individual and group after-school instruction with string instruments in Little Compton. In Tiverton, they run a mentoring program in which students from the high school tutor children from the elementary and middle school. This culminates yearly with a joint concert in the spring featuring performances from all three age groups.

The concerts sponsored by the group have been in a number of locations, ranging from schools in Little Compton and Tiverton to Holy Family Holy Name in New Bedford. The organization has also previously colaborated with Salve Regina University in Newport.

President Lillian Edwards was recognized for her efforts in running Up With School Arts in April of this year by Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts.

The organization’s current plans include two days of performances at the Little Compton Community Center, scheduled for July 29 and 30. The performances will be in a variety of musical styles, ranging from opera to choral to instrumental, and will be performed by students of Rhode Island College. This will include a free matinee for children on the 29, followed by a question-and-answer session with the musicians.

“It’s a pretty sophisticated kind of thing,” Lillian said of the variety of music to be performed.

Past events have fit that description as well. The list of those who have performed includes the Rhode Island Philharmonic, United States Navy Band, and a brass quartet from the New Bedford Symphony.

Lillian says her deep involvement in this program is rooted in her teaching background, which includes past stops at Georgetown and George Washington universities.

“As a teacher, there’s that moment when the student’s face says ‘Ah, I get it. Ok,’ that we strive for,” she said.

Additionally, she says involvement in music is a great way for children to develop their sense of creativity.

“People learn in many different ways," she noted. "Music is one way for people, especially young people, to develop and discover new dimensions of themselves.”

“We both have learned as much as the kids have doing this," she added. "It makes me feel great.”

Up With School Arts also maintains a newsletter containing information concerning all of the organization’s future endeavors. Entitled Up With School Arts News, it is distributed primarily by e-mail, but can also be found at the Tiverton Library. Up With School Arts does not have a website. However, the organization can be contacted by e-mailing upwithschoolarts@earthlink.net. Volunteers are welcomed and encouraged.

(A correction was made to an earlier version of this post to correct the July 29 and July 30 location of the organization's musical performances. Patch apologizes for the error.)