We have a lot of incredible people teaching for our programs, and while our students get to work with them every week, we know that our wider community might not know them!
Our featured teacher for February, Jason Aiello, is the Assistant Director of Elemental Strings. He is also a Director of Orchestras at Santa Monica High School and has the unique experience of working with many of our students while they are in our programs and again when they get to high school!
EM: How long have you been teaching for Elemental Music?
JA: I started teaching cello sectionals for Elemental Strings in 2008, before the name of Elemental Music was created! I’m always amazed to see how extensive the entire organization has become in a relatively short time.
EM: How did you get started playing your instrument?
JA: I began playing cello in the 5th grade after my parents finally relented and allowed me to quit my piano lessons. It’s fair to say that the beginning of my musical experience was rough on both me and my parents! It wasn’t until 6th grade when I joined my middle school orchestra that I realized playing cello and being part of an orchestra was something that could be fun! However, it was still a struggle for a few more years for my parents to get me to actually practice on my own.
EM: What inspired you to become a music teacher?
JA: I’ve had some amazing music teachers, including my current colleague Joni Swenson, who was my high school teacher in Northern California. All of them have inspired me to be a better musician and shown me the impact that a great teacher can have on his/her students’ lives, which I think has made me a better music teacher. I actually started college as a mathematics/mechanical engineering major and thought I wanted to be a high school math teacher. Although I was still playing cello and in orchestra, it was during this time that I realized how much i missed being immersed in music every day. I was contemplating switching majors when I had a conversation with one of my former English teachers, and he told me that the biggest difference between teaching music and math would be that the students in my music class have all chosen to be there. Now, I can’t imagine doing anything else!
EM: You are an orchestra director at Santa Monica High School. Can you talk a bit about what it is like to work with our Elemental students as they just start out in their musical journey, and what it is like to see many of them again in your program at the high school level?
JA: It’s incredible how quickly the time passes! The number one reason why I teach with Elemental Music is that I see the lasting effect it has on students, and how it not only helps prepare students to be successful in middle and high school, but how the Elemental Music alumni help elevate students throughout the rest of the orchestra.
The final Elemental Strings concert of the school year is usually within a day or two of the Samohi Orchestra Senior Gala, which features some of our most advanced high school orchestra students as soloists. I’m always struck by the thought that some of the Elemental Strings students performing in a chamber music setting for the first time could then be performing incredible concertos with orchestra just seven years down the road.
EM: What makes Santa Monica such a special place to teach music?
JA: The community support for music is unbelievable. When I talk to other music teachers about the programs that are supported in Santa Monica, they are shocked and quite frankly jealous of what is happening here. We are fortunate to have a rich history and tradition of music in the schools with some well known alumni in the music world. One of our most famous alumni, David Robertson, is the former Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony and currently the Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Professor of Orchestral Conducting at The Juilliard School. He describes the tradition of music in Santa Monica much better than i ever could:
”No other program compares with regard to welding the experience of art in a hands-on, active, participatory way within the general education curriculum. I have extolled the Santa Monica model to people everywhere. The world is talking a lot about El Sistema now, but Santa Monica schools have been doing something similar for 50 years.” - David Robertson
EM: What is one of your favorite musical memories?
JA: I said earlier that my musical beginning was not exactly smooth sailing and I don’t have a story about falling in love with the cello from the first time I heard the instrument. However, I do remember the moment that I realized playing cello was something truly special. I was a sophomore in high school and my small school chamber orchestra of about 12 students performed at Carnegie Hall in New York. I still remember being in awe as I walked on stage and the lasting ring of the final note from our performance. I’ve been fortunate to be able to travel and have quite a few very cool musical experiences, but I’m not sure any have had a more lasting effect.
EM: If you could give our students one piece of advice, musical or otherwise, what would it be?
JA: Playing an instrument is really, really hard! However, it’s one of those things where the more time and effort you put into it, then the more satisfaction, sense of accomplishment, and FUN you will get out of it!
EM: Is there anything else you’d like to add, that you think might be interesting for our community?
JA: I know I’m preaching to the choir when I talk about the importance of music education and how it supports the “whole” child, but as music educators, we rely on you – the community – for support. I want to thank everyone for all you do, and also encourage you to talk about the importance of music to anyone who will listen! There is an abundance of online resources about how learning music benefits student development, but here are a couple of articles that I think are much more interesting than anything I could add:
The Importance of Music Education, by Alexis Kalivretenos
The Power of Music Education