WEST LOOP — For eighth-grader Danielle Wilson-Moore, a violin and top-notch music instruction was her ticket to landing admission to one of the city's top selective enrollment high schools.
"I didn't think I was going to make it," she said this month at the Merit School of Music.
Danielle, a student at CPS' Chopin Elementary School in Ukrainian Village, credits the West Loop music nonprofit's Bridges: Partners in Music program, an initiative that brings Merit music teachers to provide instruction at Chicago Public Schools, with her success landing a spot at prestigious Whitney Young high school.
From 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, hundreds of Bridges orchestra students from 30 CPS schools and community center sites — including Chopin, Nobel Elementary School in Humboldt Park, Burbank Elementary School in Belmont-Cragin, and El Valor in Pilsen — will showcase their skills at MeritFest, a free concert for the community at the Chicago Symphony Center, 220 N. Michigan Ave.
The chance to perform on stage at Orchestra Hall is an opportunity few musicians ever experience, said Kurtis Gildow, director of programs at Merit.
“Joining other Merit music students from across the city and performing together in such a beautiful concert setting builds a strong sense of accomplishment and community," he said.
The Bridges: Partners in Music program aligns with Merit's top goal — to ensure that children, regardless of income and background, have access to high-quality music education, Gildow said.
The opportunity to learn from the best in music is also changing lives.
Danielle, who recently moved to Auburn Gresham on the South Side, started playing violin last year under the Bridges program at Chopin.
"I wanted to get into a really great high school and they say that if you play an instrument, you have a better chance," she said during an orchestra practice.
Chopin student Danielle Wilson-Moore at Merit School of Music in the West Loop. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
Earlier this year, Danielle was admitted to Whitney Young, the city's first public magnet high school and alma mater to first lady Michelle Obama. Of the 10,000 students who apply to the Near West Side high school annually, only 350 make the cut.
When she found out she would be walking the halls of one of the top schools in the nation next year, Danielle cried.
"I was excited, but I couldn't believe it," she said. "I really didn't think I was going to make it."
While she can't know for sure, the Chopin student said she thinks her orchestra skills helped her land the coveted seat in Whitney Young's freshman class. And she's excited to continue playing violin, she said.
"I get this feeling when I play — I like the way it sounds," Danielle said. "It's peaceful to me."
Hernando Caster, also an eighth-grader at Chopin, has played violin since third grade. Playing an instrument taught him discipline and opened a world to music, who also plays football and basketball.
On Tuesday, Hernando has earned a first chair in the school's orchestra, a position that comes from discipline, he said.
"If I mess up, I'll keep at it — I'll play it five times in a row, over and over again, until it sounds perfect, the way I want it to sound," said Hernando, who lives in Humboldt Park. "I've applied [the lessons] to my whole life."
Chopin student Hernando Caster at Merit School of Music in the West Loop. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
Hernando has been accepted to Lincoln Park High School magnet program.
"I'm excited to start over, to meet new people and learn new styles of music," he said.
Both Danielle and Hernando went to Lafayette Elementary in Humboldt Park, which was one of the nearly 50 CPS schools that were closed in 2013.
"I was heartbroken. That was my very first school and I grew up there," Hernando said.
Lafayette had the largest CPS orchestra program before it was closed, but despite uncertainty, Merit teachers and Chopin leaders worked to relaunch the Bridges orchestra program at the new school.
Bridges orchestra students practice at Merit School of Music in the West Loop. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
Music for 5,000 students
Helping more than 50,000 students realize their full musical potential since its founding in 1979, Merit School of Music is headquartered at 38 S. Peoria St. in the West Loop.
The school annually provides instruction to nearly 5,000 students through on-site and in-school instruction through the CPS Bridges: Partners in Music program. The program acts as a key pathway to Merit's Alice S. Pfaelzer Tuition-free Conservatory, which serves a economic and ethnically diverse cross section of the city's young musicians.
At the conservatory, students are accepted by audition only and receive college preparatory-level training from Chicago’s finest music instructors, valued at $2,500 per year, for free. Nearly 100 percent of the conservatory's graduating seniors are accepted into college, and most continue their music studies at top universities and music conservatories, Gildow said.
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