Opus Today
The Community Opus Project includes after school instrumental orchestra and band programs for students in Chula Vista. Musicians meet together with a team of Teaching Artists – all professional musicians and educators – for two hours of music instruction, twice per week. Classes meet at five elementary schools and are open to students from any Chula Vista school.
Students at each of the five Opus sites are divided two groups: Esperanza and Alegría. Our Esperanza musicians are the students participating in Opus for the first time. Alegría musicians have at least one year of instrumental experience. Each class for both Esperanza and Alegría musicians includes one hour of full ensemble instruction and one hour of sectional instruction. There are multiple opportunities throughout the year for the musicians to perform at concerts and other events.
Opus musicians who are in middle school and who have been learning music for at least two years are welcome to audition for chamber ensembles that rehearse for an hour each week and perform at various venues and events throughout the region. These musicians also meet quarterly to perform as a full-ensemble.
The History
San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory (SDYS) believes every student deserves music education for the lifetime of joy it provides and the habits, skills and traits students acquire that will improve their academic, personal and professional lives. Unfortunately, public school budget cuts have made it inaccessible for many students. Determined to use its resources to reverse that trend, in 2010 SDYS adopted a long-term vision of “making music education accessible and affordable for all.” To achieve this goal, it launched the Community Opus Project to demonstrate the positive effects of learning music by providing free afterschool music instruction, engaging the parents, educating the community, and persuading school districts to reinstate district-wide music instruction.
For the pilot program, SDYS partnered with the Chula Vista Elementary School District, which had not provided school-day music instruction for more than 15 years. SDYS began by providing free afterschool instrumental instruction to 65 3rd graders. The positive effects on the students were apparent so quickly that in 2013 CVESD committed to reinstating in-school music instruction so that all of its nearly 30,000 students would be able to learn music.
SDYS, CVESD and other local partners continue to collaborate to make high-quality music instruction available for all students. Students, families and other residents from all parts of Chula Vista will come together around the shared joy of learning, performing and experiencing beautiful music.
Student Stories
“SDYS is important to me now because it gives me the opportunity to learn advanced repertoire in a large orchestra setting.”
The Yandall Sisters, violin, double bass, trumpet
Learn MoreResources
GIAreader: Grantmakers in the Arts
“Disrupting the Status Quo” – El Sistema, the Community Opus Project, and School Reform in the Chula Vista Elementary School District
Stand For Your Mission
The Power of Board Advocacy: A Discussion Guide for Boards
Arts Education Retakes the Stage in California Schools
California School Board Magazine | May 1, 2016
Time to Embrace Arts Education as a Priority
UT San Diego | March 9, 2016
More Information
For more information about our Community Opus Project, contact Aurora Ilog, Community Opus Project Coordinator at ailog@sdys.org..
Community Opus Project Supporters & Partners
| SCHOOL PARTNERS | COMMUNITY PARTNERS | NATIONAL PARTNERS |
|---|---|---|
| Chula Vista Elementary School District Sweetwater Union High School District Visual and Performing Arts San Diego County Office of Education Visual and Performing Arts Kellogg Elementary Rodgers Elementary Veterans Elementary Castle Park Middle Chula Vista Middle Hilltop Middle Castle Park High Chula Vista High | Chula Vista Community Collaborative Arts Empower San Diego South Bay Community Services Chula Vista Promise Neighborhood South Bay Alliance for Arts Education UC San Diego Center for Human Development UC San Diego Extension Academic Connections SDSU School of Music San Diego Symphony South Bay Family YMCA STEAM Connect La Jolla Music Society | California Alliance for Arts Education El Sistema USA The Ensemble ICAN, Santa Barbara League of American Orchestras Longy School of Music at Bard College National Endowment for the Arts Sistema Global Support Music Coalition VH1 Save The Music Foundation VYMA — Verdugo Young Musicians Association, Pasadena The Weill Music Institute, Carnegie Hall Yale School of Music YOLA, LA Philharmonic |
| GOVERNMENT FUNDERS Chula Vista Elementary School District Sweetwater Union High School District City of Chula Vista Cultural Arts Commission City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture County of San Diego Neighborhood Reinvestment Program California Arts Council National Endowment for the Arts US Department of Education – Promise Neighborhood FOUNDATION AND CORPORATE FUNDERS Arthur P Pratt & Jeanette Gladys Pratt Memorial Fund BoardSource | Christopher C. Collins Foundation Christopher Weil & Co Clarence E. Heller Foundation Crossroads II Corporation Cubic Corporation Cynergy D’Addario Foundation David C. Copley Foundation Ford Motor Company Fund/San Diego County Ford Dealers Goodrich/Rohr Employees Fund James Irvine Foundation Kinder Morgan James Lauer Fund at The San Diego Foundation League of American Orchestras/Getty Foundation Legler-Benbough Foundation Mandell Weiss Charitable Trust | Masserini Charitable Trust NAMM Foundation Nordson Corporation Foundation Opus Community Foundation Price Family Charitable Fund ResMed Foundation Samuel H. French III and Katherine Weaver French Fund Samuel I. & John Henry Fox Foundation Sidney Stern Memorial Trust Southwest Chula Vista Civic Association The Parker Foundation Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation U.S. Bancorp Foundation Union Bank Foundation VH1 Save The Music Foundation Walter J. and Betty C. Zable Foundation Weingart Foundation Wells Fargo Foundation |