Berklee today is the official alumni publication of Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. It is a forum for contemporary music and musicians.
Issue link: http://berkleetoday.epubxp.com/i/180042
changer in the music-education feld. The numbers tell the story: 235,000 students taught (and counting); 1,100 current teachers; and more than 42,000 instruments donated to public schools. Coupled with the support of industry heavyweights like Lady Gaga, Toby Keith, and Bruce Springsteen, Little Kids Rock has been thrust into the national spotlight. Greg Pavliv '03, its director of training, has been one of the linchpins in the school's success. Pavliv's experience as a public-school music teacher and advocate for arts funding prepared him well for Little Kids Rock. Daunting fnancial odds had proven no match for his work ethic. "Before joining Little Kids, I once helped students furnish a music room from things found in a dumpster," he admits. At another school, a twist of fate gave him brief access to Elton John's piano. "I used it for a beneft concert, and the revenue allowed us to purchase keyboards for our school." His career took him to Newark, New Jersey, where Little Kids Rock had just received a grant to help develop a music program. "They were looking for teachers to implement their model," Pavliv explains, "but few had confdence that a curriculum including rock 'n' roll, hip-hop and other modern styles could work in an inner-city school." Ironically, he found this was exactly what his students needed. "Little Kids Rock empowers students, meeting them at their level," he notes. The program introduces songwriting and improvising early on, and helps students make CD recordings and even music videos. "I quickly implemented the curriculum for my 500 students, and took advantage of the Little Kids' online network to bounce ideas off of other teachers." The methods worked particularly well for Pavliv's students, many of whom had developmental disabilities. "Examples of success are everywhere," Pavliv reports with contagious excitement. "We had a student with a speech impediment who was able to sing beautifully after starting our program, and she's now teaching others. One teacher created an apparatus for a student with cerebral palsy so he could play slide guitar. Another instructor with blind students attached Braille notation to the back of a guitar to help them fgure out chords." Pavliv's hard work earned him a position as an ambassador recruiting other teachers for the program, eventually leading to his current position managing program directors around the country. Within three years, "We went from a staff of seven to being the largest nonproft music education program in the U.S.. It was remarkable," he recalls. The Little Kids Rock story would not be as compelling without generous fnancial support for the organization and star power. Its 2012 gala raised $800,000, and featured guests Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt, and American Idol's Kris Allen. "Getting their participation is a total grassroots effort," Pavliv concedes. "Some initial connections and press coverage paid off. It spread like wildfre, and we soon had some quite famous people who wanted to be involved." Recently, Stefan Lessard of the Dave Matthews Band spoke at a Dallas Little Kids Rock event and donated 100 acoustic guitars to the program. Little Kids Rock is keeping its eyes fxed on the future. "We're developing means for promising students to learn more about our pedagogy and develop a higher-education path for them to become certifed teachers and Little Kids Rock instructors," Pavliv says. "The online resources on our website and on iTunes University are also expanding. In the future, we hope to have our whole program online so teachers not directly affliated with us can download materials for free. "It's not our business to solve all the problems our students face," Pavliv says. "However, our business is to give them hope by unlocking their creative potential. I believe we're largely succeeding there, and we're giving them a reason to want to come to school." As Pavliv says, "Our mission won't be complete until the entire Little Kids Rock staff is unemployed!" Greg Pavliv '03 Tell a friend... Virtual subscriptions to Berklee today are now available for free to Berklee alumni and all other interested parties. Visit http://www.berklee.edu/bt/subscribe and sign up to receive an e-mail when each new issue is published. Read back issues at http://www.berklee.edu/bt/archives.html. Fall2013 31