January 10, 2024
By Mark Dix, Phoenix Symphony Violist
The Phoenix Symphony Community Engagement team recently started a new partnership to bring Phoenix Symphony Performances to the Durango Juvenile Detention Facility in central Phoenix. The program is an extension of the Phoenix Symphony’s well-established STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education program, Mind Over Music®. Since 2015, Symphony musicians have been working directly with classroom teachers in various districts to create lessons that use music to enliven topics already in their curriculum. The Durango Detention Facility serves as not only a correctional facility for students ages 13 to 18, but it is also an educational institution with a faculty who teach daily lessons on a variety of subjects. When the opportunity to take Mind Over Music® to the Durango Detention Facility was presented, Phoenix Symphony musicians were eager to get involved.
We started performing at the Durango Juvenile Detention Facility in July of 2023. The facility is divided into ten units, 16 students per unit, where their individual rooms surround a central space which is where we perform the concerts and help teach the lessons. As you can imagine, it is an imposing environment; there are frequent alarm sounds, a heavy presence of guards, and very strict rules. When we arrive, usually in a group of five musicians, the students are silent and solemn, seated in large heavy chairs with a few feet of distance between them. I introduce myself and the other musicians and explain to the students that they are free to ask questions. As soon as we perform a piece, they loosen up. We introduce our tools of creative expression, explain how they work, what they look like on the inside and where the hair on our bows comes from.
During these lessons, we emphasize how these topics have a direct real-world application. For example, we’ve discussed the curved design of a string instrument. The rounded edges allow for greater strength of the instrument, while it helps amplify the sound. We have also debated the availability of the material used in a bow, which is affected by historical and environmental changes.
As the lesson continues, hands go up, engagement increases, stories are shared about music they have heard and questions are raised. There are some smiles and lots of strong eye contact. The students are curious, attentive, and want us to come back because the experience is a break in their routine, a window into emotions and creativity which music can reach without words.
This program is still very new but I am excited to see how it evolves and what difference it can make in the lives of children and the community.
Thank you for your support and interest!
Mark Dix, violist, The Phoenix Symphony
