By Alex Paramo

As schools across the country face ever-increasing budget cuts, a common strategy that school districts employ is cutting arts programs. As increases in standardized testing become the norm in public schools, the unfortunate victim becomes arts-education. This is an unfortunate strategy due to the fact that the overwhelming evidence points to arts education as being a great benefit to the overall education of children.

Benefits of Music Instruction

For younger children (2-9) music aides significantly in language development. Additionally, a link between music and spatial intelligence, which is essential for everyday tasks and is crucial in mathematics, has been discovered. Music instruction also helps students with aspects of math by enhancing their pattern recognition skills. A foundation of music instruction is founded upon memorization, therefore music students develop a mastery of memorization which greatly benefits them in all areas of education. Of course there are many more advantages that would exhaust the space I have here but please check out this presentation (Music Matters) by the folks at the Arts Education Partnership which outlines many more of these benefits.

New Mexico Academy of Rock & Blues

Ana, Tobias and Keith – Photo by Nareen Al-Timimi

New Mexico Academy of Rock and Blues (NMARB) is a not-for-profit arts program focused on teaching young people the craft of music and lyrical performance and writing. Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the NMARB is led by husband and wife team Keith Sanchez and Ana Romero Sanchez.

Ana was a teacher in Oakland, CA and is currently pursuing a MA in Counseling. Ana is the Co-founder, Program Director and Administrator for NMARB.  Keith is a career musician having traveled the world as a performing artist. Keith works as a teacher for RFK Charter High School in Albuquerque’s south valley. Keith is the Co-founder, Director of Music and Curriculum, and lead instructor for NMARB. Read more about Keith and Ana here.

The NMARB includes lessons from Musician/Educator Elizabeth Marie Berry, Percussionist Ragon Espinoza and artists in other mediums such as poetry, spoken-word and literature from instructors such as Albuquerque Poet Laureate Jessica Helen Lopez and Poet/Educator Katrina Guarascio. Ana stated that, “Art has always been a huge part of our lives and we wanted to share that with our community by bringing in other artists. We know that art builds confidence and give the students a platform to speak their own words out loud.”

Motivational Mission

The motivation for founding the NMARB sprang from the desire by Keith and Ana to teach music to children in a fun environment. According to Ana, you can “learn while having fun, and it is about more than music. The students build friendships and find common bonds with other youth from around their city.”

Keith adds, “I was inspired to found the NMARB because music can provide kids with a sense of purpose. I strive to give the kids a cultural experience, a historical perspective. Music instruction is not about showcasing talent, its about kids feeling that everyone has something to contribute to music, to society.” Additionally Keith states, “Music is a gateway to math, science, and literature.”

The NMARB is hosted by the FUSION Theatre Company at the Cell Theatre in Downtown Albuquerque, NM. Ana states that, “FUSION Theatre Company’s Executive Director Dennis Gromelski has been a tremendous proponent of the NMARB and we would not have accomplished as much without his continual support.”

The Future

Among the long-term goals of the NMARB include:

• Expansion in capacity (amount of students)
• Create an year-round after-school program
• Scholarships to lower the costs to all students
• Expansion in arts courses offered/curriculum
• Creating a model and opening up chapters nationally and in Latin America

 Mission Possible

The NMARB’s mission is to provide music and arts education to young people throughout the community. Their goal is to inspire creativity, build confidence and self-esteem, help create friendships and community bonds, and to foster the ability to accomplish dreams in all aspects of their lives. If you cannot make the fundraiser please visit the NMARB website at http://nmarb.org (Donate Button) and/or learn how to Sponsor a Child.

“if each of us felt the confidence to give of our abilities, and we all have them…to share that with society…we could make big changes.”  – Ana Romero Sanchez

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Alex Paramo

Alex Paramo is an Author and Co-Founder of Community Publishing. Community Publishing brings local artists of all mediums together in creative collaborations for distribution as Multimedia Books while promoting literacy in our communities.

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