From 1990 until 2022, we were very proud of the String Academy’s accomplishments through those years: steady enrollment, students won local and regional competitions, high quality music instruction for the children of Greater Milwaukee, and especially the Scholarship Program for financially disadvantaged students.
SAW Chamber Orchestra
Each year children benefited from studying violin, viola and cello at the String Academy. We raised funds annually to support our Scholarship Program in order to keep our unique, intensive training program affordable for all families. We believed strongly in our mission to provide needy students with the opportunity to study music in a setting of excellence. Since our inception in 1990 we funded approximately 20 to 40 students annually with full scholarships. String Academy parents raised a portion of these funds through special projects such as our annual flower sale, but most of the funds came from individual gifts and grants from corporations and foundations.
We were always searching to find talented and financially deserving children for our program. The String Academy successfully developed the Urban Students in Arts Scholarship Program at Milwaukee Public Schools: Escuela Vieau K-8. String Academy faculty gave individual instruction in violin and cello at this school and the children came to UW-Milwaukee for weekly group lessons and performing opportunities. This comprehensive learning experience offered much more than simply a music education. The students became self-directed, disciplined and eager to explore new avenues. Students from the Urban Outreach Program were chosen to perform on our annual Scholarship Benefit Concerts.
Young Cellist
The String Academy artist faculty was comprised of performing musicians with degrees from prestigious institutions. In addition to performing in many of Milwaukee’s major musical organizations, they were specially trained to work with children and devoted their lives to work in this field. The String Academy faculty presented training workshops to teachers from across the United States and Canada. They also taught courses for UWM’s Master of Music degree program in String Pedagogy as well as undergraduate string methods courses. The String Academy itself served as a wonderful laboratory setting for music education students at the university.
String Academy students, under careful guidance from faculty and parents, engaged in a challenging course of study that included private and group instruction, daily home practice, frequent performances (all together, more than 45 each year!), master classes, and instruction in music theory and ear training. String Academy students were soloists with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra, Waukesha and Racine Symphonies, and other area performing groups. While some students chose music as their career, all of students developed an appreciation for music and the arts in general. Ninety-nine percent of alumni graduated from high school, and most went on to institutions of higher learning. String Academy alumni are performing and teaching throughout the world, as well as thriving in other fields such as medicine, engineering, technology, and social work.
