Led by assistant professor of music Mitch Lutch, Central College is sponsoring an instrument donation initiative to benefit the Yucatan Youth Orchestra Program, a music education program based in Merida, Yucatan, for students with otherwise limited exposure to music opportunities.
The Yucatan Youth Orchestra Program, which also supports a band and choir, aims to provide music instruction and performance opportunities to underprivileged students from across the Yucatan. Founded in 2008 by master violinist Jose Luis Chan Sabido, over 400 students are involved with the program, which is supported entirely by equipment donations and outside financial contributions.
Central is currently accepting donations of instruments in good working condition on the program’s behalf. According to Chan, instruments in particular need are oboes, bassoons, trombones, tubas and percussion instruments, though other donations are equally appreciated. The program also gratefully accepts music accessories, including percussion sticks; bass, cello, viola and violin strings; trumpet mutes; lesson books; and sheet music. Lutch will forward monetary donations, as well.
“The program brings these students an aspect of creativity they wouldn’t otherwise experience,” said Lutch. “They meet outside of school because their schools don’t offer these sorts of opportunities. Although the program is in Merida, it attracts students from all around the Yucatan. Many come from hours away to participate.”
Mitch Lutch directs the Symphonic Wind Ensemble in front of an audience in Merida.
Twenty Central faculty members will transport the first collection of donated equipment when they visit Merida in January for a weeklong Global Experiential Learning Workshop. Merida is also the location of one of Central’s eight study abroad programs.
Lutch was introduced to the Yucatan Youth Orchestra Program in December 2010 when he and Gabriel Espinosa, associate professor of music and Yucatan native, led the Central Jazz Band and Symphonic Wind Ensemble on a tour to Mexico. Together with Central’s Merida program director, Valerie Grimsley, several performances were set up for the two groups while in Merida. During a rainy evening performance at a partially-covered community center outside of Merida, a large group of students in the Merida program braved the elements to attend Central’s concert.
“When it started raining we wondered if anybody would come,” said Lutch. “Then all these people started coming in, all these students who traveled from up to two hours away to attend. They looked really excited to hear us perform. One of our students asked Gabriel how often they get to hear music like this. He said, ‘They’ve never heard anything like this.’”
Touched, Lutch returned to Mexico in March to work with the program’s youth band. Many students he worked with had seen Central’s Merida performance. He noted the appreciation they showed for the music he had brought for them to play. Upon his return, he began organizing the instrument donation at Central.
“They were so excited, so appreciative,” said Lutch. “We do an international tour every four years, and Gabriel and I are already considering a return to the Yucatan.”
For more information or to organize a donation, contact Lutch at 641-628-5238 or lutchm@central.edu.