Santa Ana Strings
To use music as an instrument for social transformation, empowering children to acquire the skills and values they need to achieve their full potential, and to positively affect their society through the study and performance of live music.
Santa Ana Strings (SAS), in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Ana, is creating opportunities for low-income and underserved youth to enjoy the intellectual, social, emotional, and artistic benefits of learning and performing live music. SAS provides free, after-school violin instruction for students in grades 1-11. Each student receives a violin to take home, up to five hours of violin instruction and mentorship four days each week, plus academic tutoring and frequent performance opportunities.
Committed to nurturing the artistic and intellectual gifts in each student, the program, established in 2012, serves as a valued resource for at-risk children who are most in need of accessing the unique benefits of a program which provides an excellent music education through orchestral music instruction and performance, while strengthening family and community bonds, and building the transferable practical skills needed to improve academic motivation, classroom success, and social preparedness.
One of the most noteworthy aspects of the program — which sets SAS apart from other similar music learning programs — is the provision of professional orchestra musicians. Pacific Symphony musicians serve as teaching artists, educators, and tutors, offering one of the highest-quality, one-on-one and group music learning opportunities in Orange County. This innovative aspect is like no other violin instruction program in the county.
Although there are many ways to address the needs of at-risk students, incorporating music education into basic curriculum provides distinctly unique benefits beyond music competence and appreciation. It prepares students to learn, facilitates academic achievement, and develops creative coping capacities.
To learn more, visit our SAS channel on YouTube.com and Facebook.
Thank you for everything you’ve done for my child over the last five years. Music has helped him to become more mature and to be more focused in school and more disciplined. Thank you so much for your support and the continued lessons over the summer. Thank you, Santa Ana Strings!
SAS Parent
Interested in becoming a Heartstrings Partner? Contact Mary Hawkes, director of community engagement, MHawkes@PacificSymphony.org.