For the past four years, Yonatan Grinberg has been connecting Baltimore’s Torah community with classical music and changing lives for the better. Mr. Grinberg’s fledgling after-school program, Baltimore Bows, has outgrown its space and is now a part of CEMA, the Chamber Encounters Music Academy. CEMA offers music instruction both after and during school hours, teaches at all levels and to all ages, and gives stunning educational concerts at the Gordon Center. As Mr. Grinberg says, “The Baltimore community recognized the many intellectual, emotional, and spiritual benefits of serious music instruction for both children and adults and has been supportive of our growth.”
The support started as soon as the Grinbergs moved to Baltimore. “In many communities, when I tell people I’m a musician, they say, ‘What can you do with that?’ says Mr. Grinberg, “but when I moved to Baltimore they asked, ‘Can you teach my children?’” And with that, Baltimore Bows was launched, in 2014, with only 16 students.
Baltimore Bows parents quickly saw the music lessons’ impact on their children. “I’ve had three children participate in Baltimore Bows,” says Chana Perel Benzequen, “and I saw an improvement in their ability to self-regulate, focus, and concentrate. They also made good friends.” Bows students also found opportunities to perform for their peers, spreading the word about the program. According to Mr. Grinberg, “Bais Yaakov has a Chanukah gathering, and two little girls were able to perform on their violas. We got calls from close to 10 families after that because when the kids see their friends perform they want to be able to do it too.” With that success (and an article in Mishpacha) the Baltimore Bows program has now served hundreds of children.
To accommodate the influx of students and serve those who have been with them since the beginning, Yonatan’s organization expanded to become CEMA. Today, in addition to the Baltimore Bows program for beginners, CEMA offers orchestras and chamber groups for advanced students of all ages. Chamber groups are particularly rewarding for more advanced students because each musician plays a solo part in collaboration with one to five others, building complex skills in accountability, communication, and leadership. “It’s the best combination of playing with other people and playing solo,” says Mr. Grinberg. Each chamber group, which can be gender segregated or for adults instead of children, meets with a teacher weekly for private coaching to improve their skills and musical collaboration.
After-school programs come with a variety of challenges for students, teachers, and parents. They include tired children, transportation, and limited time for homework and family when kids need to be at rehearsals close to dinnertime. Mr. Grinberg therefore embarked on an expansion into in-school programs. Darchei Noam Montessori jumped to be his first partner, building a successful in-school program this past school year. At Darchei Noam, every elementary school student received small group violin instruction twice a week and was required to practice five to ten minutes per day. Darchei Noam elementary teacher, Laliev Silverman, says, “Violin lessons were a highlight of the week for most of my students. On those days, you could tell there was an increase in the spirit of joy and excitement in the class. Even on non-lesson days, I could see how girls reentered the room relaxed and rejuvenated after their practice time, ready to focus again on their other work.”
Miriam Hammelburger, mother to a Darchei Noam student, says, “It is a huge blessing that this music program is offered and that it’s part of our tuition. It’s all included in the day’s activities, so we don’t have to work it into our schedule. If not for it’s being given in school, we probably wouldn’t have done something like this, so it’s a new window of opportunity in our lives.” The Hammelburgers’ son embraced the lessons wholeheartedly. “He’s thriving and happy; he feels stimulated, purposeful, and accomplished,” she says. “He sees that he can do something real and be successful.”
Aside from the documented benefits of music education to brain development, Yonatan points to this feeling of self-empowerment as one of his most important student outcomes. “We’ll introduce a new skill and the children will say, ‘That’s too hard!’ Then they are doing it five minutes later, and they see that they can successfully do hard things.”
Mrs. Benzequen sees the difference in her children. “My kids are seeing that if they try they can succeed. They have the ability to effect change for themselves or for other people. I see how it affects their performance at school. Grit and resilience become second nature due to playing an instrument. Grit and resilience are traits that yield great benefits for adults.”
Rabbi Eli Itzkowitz, menahel at Yeshivas Toras Simcha, cited that sense of accomplishment as one of the reasons they are adding a CEMA music program to their Sunday electives next school year. “I’m looking forward to giving the boys a sense of accomplishment and discipline,” she says. “They’ll work hard and have pride in their performances. They’ll see that when they work hard, they accomplish.”
In addition to making strides musically, Morah Silverman saw the benefits transfer to other academic subjects. “In general, the girls became willing to work harder in their academics – taking risks, making mistakes, learning from them, and practicing – because they saw themselves go through this learning process in their music. They discovered that the process works (they did become better musicians) and that they enjoy the process itself: that is, learning to play music is fun, even before you become ‘good at it’! What a great lesson to transfer to academics!”
In addition to intellectual and emotional benefits, the appreciation and study of music has spiritual benefits as well. “In a mainstream school like Toras Simcha, with a high level of learning six days a week, it's very important to give the boys a chance to learn music and art in an appropriate way and in the right setting,” says Rabbi Itzkowitz. “When a child connects to Hashem through music it can greatly enhance his learning and his avodas Hashem in all areas.”
Mr. Grinberg points to Miriam’s musical celebration at the Yam Suf, to the music of Dovid Hamelech, King David, as well as to the role of music in the avoda in the Bais Hamikdash as just a few examples of how music can and should increase our connection to Hashem.
According to Rabbi Sruli Motzen, of Ner Tamid, some of our greatest leaders have recognized the importance of creating art as an expression of our love for Hashem. “About 100 years ago, Rav Kook spoke of the need for an increase in religious creative works seeing as how they would complete the purely intellectual growth of Torah. Today, there is still a dearth of high-end, substantial art of any form that is inspired by Torah. The creation of art needs two things: the artist and people who appreciate the art, so I’m happy to see Chamber Encounters focused on developing both musical artists and music appreciators in our community through their classes and concerts.”
Indeed, Chamber Encounters’ entertaining and educational concerts are a pathway for creating appreciators of classical music. Discussing the Chamber Encounters Concert series now entering its fourth season at the JCC Owings Mills Gordon Center, Mr. Grinberg says, “Baruch Hashem, CEMA’s faculty is extremely talented, so when we play stimulating pieces with an interesting story in a venue that has spectators so close to the musicians that you can see everything that we do, people really enjoy it, even if they haven’t listened to classical music before.”
Mr. Grinberg hopes to develop a sustainable model for developing musical artists and appreciators that can be exported to Torah communities around the world. “People are already asking us to open programs in different communities. It’s just a question of having the means to do that.” Mr. Grinberg is growing CEMA’s base of financial supporters who subsidize program costs for our community’s children. “Fortunately, even small donations can have a big impact,” he says. “One hundred dollars pays for a violin or two private lessons. A thousand dollars sponsors a student for a year.”
The Baltimore Bows tagline is “Making Music. Changing Lives.” Mr. Grinberg has successfully delivered on that mission over the past four years. Next year, he hopes to expand CEMA to create offerings for older children and adults of all ages. If you are interested in learning more about music instruction for yourself or your children or in sponsoring a CEMA student, please email Mr. Grinberg at thebaltimorebows@gmail.com.
