It was the last scramble before the Music Education with Saratoga High (MESH) Benefit concert in March 2015. Stakes were high, confidence was low, and with only one week left before the concert, high school mentors were bustling about, attending to confused youngsters. But in the midst of such chaos, there was a feeling of unity — of a shared passion for music.
MESH, the club that hosts this concert every year, is an outreach program in which Saratoga High musicians mentor the band and orchestra students at Redwood Middle School. The organization requires members to help students at the middle school at least twice every month, providing an opportunity for students to gain volunteer hours.
Senior concertmaster Danny Gao, co-president of the orchestral side of MESH, has mentored two groups of students so far and had the opportunity to tutor one of the fourth-grade violinists last year.
“[MESH’s] goal is to promote musical growth in both the high schoolers and the younger kids,” Gao said. “It has been a really fun way for me to connect with others, including both the younger kids and the MESH leaders.”
There have been some changes in MESH throughout the five years it’s been running, such as the requirement that members help out at the Redwood Middle at least a couple of times a month. The change comes as part of the program’s goal to foster deeper bonds between older and younger musicians.
Orchestra leadership members like junior Shannon Chen said the program benefits both the mentors and mentees. The process of teaching helps older students cement their own knowledge.
“I learn a lot more about my playing as a violinist when I teach other people,” Chen said. “It helps a lot of us get better skill-wise because if you’re teaching other people, you pay attention to what you do well.”
Many MESH members have seen that teaching younger musicians allows them to develop leadership and social skills.
According to senior Alice He, co-president of the band side of MESH, the program offers students numerous opportunities to work with others involved in the Saratoga music programs, opportunities that high school students rarely get. An example is the yearly benefit concert held to support Music Team SF, a nonprofit organization that provides children in low-income families the opportunity to learn and play music.
“The benefit concert itself allows high school mentors and a group of younger musicians to prepare some fun pieces to perform, and it really allows us to have fun and bond,” He said.
In preparation for this concert, MESH members work with a group of around four younger students on a piece before performing it during the spring concert. The concert consists of groups ranging from trios to quintets that perform pieces chosen by their MESH leaders. Jennifer Veis, senior violinist and co-president of the orchestral side of MESH, is one of the many students who help to organize this event.
To prepare for last spring’s event, Veis said, MESH members frequently met with their groups outside of school hours to have practice sessions.
And, the students’ efforts paid off. Junior Celine Bellegarda said her group members performed well last March despite their initial difficulties.
She recalled how l her group’s piece, “Arkansas Traveler,” still needed work on fingerings and intonation. Although the group had practiced together since early January, many members had just begun playing their instrument and were still unfamiliar with the particulars. Bellegarda anticipated the team would continue to struggle, but was pleasantly surprised by what she heard when she walked into a practice session a week before the performance.
“When I heard them play [the piece] that time, I could really tell that they took all my suggestions to heart,” Bellegarda said. “The music just came alive.”
Such moments between mentors and mentees play a large part in why Veis, Chen and the rest of the MESH leaders aim to promote teamwork and unity this year. By doing so, MESH leaders hope that the MESH benefit concert and the program itself will turn out to be more engaging for everyone involved.
Ultimately, MESH pushes high schoolers to pursue their passion for music and encourages them to work together to make a positive impact.
“When we go back [to Redwood], we spread our skills and our love of music,” Chen said. “It’s like a flashback to see where you were and how far you’ve come.”
