Dallas, TX
Dallas Symphony’s Young Musicians program teaches music, life skills
Inside a portable classroom at Trinity Basin Preparatory near Redbird, flutist Caely Rodriguez practices keeping her triplets to time.
She sits in a room full of elementary and middle school flutists and clarinetists who are rehearsing the Christmas piece Paseo Navideno.
“Can I hear you at 12 and take the first ending? First flute” says instructor Laura Kidder as her fingers crisply snap to the tempo in the way only music teachers can.
Caely is one of about 300 students who are a part of the Kim Noltemy Young Musicians Program, which provides free lessons and instruments to students in southern Dallas. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays year-round, the program teaches students at five southern Dallas locations: Ebby Halliday Elementary, Maria Moreno Elementary, Ascher Silberstein Elementary, Trinity Basin Prep Ledbetter campus, and Owenwood Farm & Neighborhood Space.
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the program, which has survived the pandemic and provided free arts education as programs across the state have faced budget cuts. Fort Worth ISD cut $1.2 million from its upcoming visual and performing arts budget for the 2024-25 school year, according to the Fort Worth Report.
Ashley Alarcon, the program’s manager of teaching and learning, said cuts to arts education make her feel a greater responsibility for the work being done through the program.
While students are learning their octaves and key signatures, Alarcon said the program’s overarching goal is to “[instill] values that make you an aware citizen.”
“Being a citizen that’s aware in this world requires a sense of humility because you want to see beyond yourself to what other people are doing and embrace their talents,” she said.
Music education has proved to have positive effects on adolescents, like increased confidence, creativity and mental and emotional well-being, according to a 2023 research study from the University of Southern California.
Students in the program learn life lessons, including how to embrace and encourage their neighbors, accept their strengths and weaknesses, and show up on days they don’t want to.
Caely, 11, has been in the Young Musicians program since she was just 6. She’s connected with teachers and new friends, especially clarinetists and fellow flutists.
“You learn that you have to come prepared every day, be quiet while everybody else is playing. It helps in the majority of my classes where you just have to be quiet or be disciplined to bring your stuff and not lose any of it,” she said.
The sixth grader said with the help of Alarcon she’s also learned to overcome one of her biggest challenges.
“I played it over and over again until I wouldn’t stop even if I heard a mistake. After I did that a couple of times, I would write down what I did wrong on the piece, and I would write that while I was playing it. So that’s how I overcame that,” she said.
Mariana Lara, 12, is a seventh grader who’s been playing the violin for two years in the Young Musicians program. She said she’s learned how to be patient with herself through practicing the violin.
These days, she’s been working on her vibrato, a challenging technique in which violinists rock their fingers back and forth to subtly change pitch and add richness to their sound.
“In any music that they give us, if it’s hard or a specific part, I have to really go over it to get it right. Sometimes that’s difficult because it gets frustrating for myself,” she said.
Behind the scenes, more than 25 music teachers champion the students’ growth. One of those educators, Roy Gonzalez, has been teaching trombone and trumpet at the program’s Trinity Basin Prep Ledbetter Campus for the last four years.
Gonzalez previously taught at the college level, but now the Young Musicians program has been a special opportunity to teach students who are starting with a blank slate.
“I like that challenge to help give them the best tools from the ground up,” he said. “So when they go to middle school or high school, they have solid fundamentals. They know how to play and they know how to make a beautiful sound.”
He said the program presents challenges because it serves students of all different skill levels and in mostly group settings. But Gonzalez said he’s seen many young musicians in the program improve rapidly. One of his students, a trumpet player, started three months ago and is already playing two-octave scales.
One of his favorite memories from the program was watching the students perform in a concert last fall. Gonzalez said his students make fun of him for crying often, and it was another occasion when he proved them right.
“It’s one of the biggest improvements I’ve heard in such a short period of time. I feel like things were actually clicking in the teaching, clicking in el sistema and they just sounded so beautiful. I just teared up,” he said.
Those performances are made possible by consistent rehearsals. While dark has fallen outside, students gather inside the main room of the portable at Trinity Basin Prep to rehearse Brahms’ “Tragic Overture.”
The tremolo of the violins fills the room as the wind instruments bellow out. Before long, the rolling thunder of the timpani and slashing chords announce the big finale. As soon as the conductor’s hand falls, the room fills with the rumble of chatting and packing up.
Tomorrow, the students will return to do it all over again.
Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.
This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol & Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, Communities Foundation of Texas, The University of Texas at Dallas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James & Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer & Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access’ journalism.
The search for the next general manager or president of basketball operations of the Dallas Mavericks has begun. They terminated Nico Harrison in November, which was about nine months too late, and gave any available candidates clear notice that they were open for business.
The plan was always to wait until after the season to start the search. While names popped up as the season reached an end, they didn’t begin turning over the staff until the Monday after the season ended. However, Dallas Mavericks fans are not going to like how the team is going about the search.
Patrick Dumont Leading Search for General Manager
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Mavericks are not hiring a search firm in their hunt for a new lead executive. Instead, team governor Patrick Dumont is “acting as his own point person.”
This is an… interesting decision, to say the least. Dumont is not a basketball person whatsoever, and most organizations usually hire a search firm. The Chicago Bulls hired one as they look for their replacement for Arturas Karnisovas. Just because a firm is hired doesn’t mean a team will listen, though.
The Mavericks hired a firm in their last search for a GM. They let Donnie Nelson go in 2021 after a long tenure with the Mavs. Instead of listening to the firm, though, Mark Cuban ignored it to hire Nico Harrison, who had no previous NBA front office experience. Harrison had been an executive with Nike, which gave him connections with players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and plenty of others.
For a while, that seemed to be working out okay. While he still had some questionable transactions, such as trading for Christian Wood and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, they were still able to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2024. Then, he blew it all up, trading away Luka Doncic for an older and injured Anthony Davis, and the team hasn’t been the same since.
It’s imperative that the Mavericks get this hire correct. The interim Co-GM setup with Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley has performed admirably, but the 2026 NBA Draft is important for the Mavs to get right. It’s their best chance to pair Cooper Flagg with another young star, as they don’t own their first-round pick again until 2031 after this.
Hiring the right GM could help bring in more draft capital by bringing in bad contracts or flipping veterans into picks.
Dumont was able to convince Rick Welts, a Hall of Famer, to come out of retirement to be the CEO and lead the charge for a new arena. Maybe Dumont pulls another rabbit out of his hat for the GM.
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For a moment, it looked like FC Dallas was on its way to another statement win at home tonight.
Petar Musa scored two first half goals, to extend his Golden Boot leading tally to nine goals. But after Dallas grabbed control, the Galaxy found a way back before halftime with goals from Lucas Sanabria and Joseph Paintsil.
The second half brought more chances and more frustration for Dallas, which finished the night with 13 shots to LA’s nine. In the end, the point stretched Dallas’ unbeaten run to five games, though just like last week, it felt like another match where Dallas left points on the table.
Key Moments
7’ – GOAL! After a poor pass back by a LA defender, Petar Musa was free to go one-on-one with the LA goalkeeper. After a touch to get ahead of a defender, Musa slotted home his eighth goal of the season from outside the penalty box.
21’ – Offside! Joaquin Valiente sent a floating ball over the Galaxy defense, where Musa was able to get behind the defense and make an easy play for what appeared to be his second goal of the night. The play was called offside despite a fairly lengthy review period.
38’ – GOAL! This one counts! Musa gets his second of the night off a great ball from Chris Cappis. Logan Farrington picked off the ball in the midfield. He then played Cappis wide to the left of the penalty area. Cappis immediately played a ball back across the goal for Musa to slide in and finish for his ninth of the season.
43’ – Goal LA. Lucas Sanabria got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He took a couple of touches to get outside the penalty box before firing a shot that beat Michael Collodi at the near post.
45+4’ – Goal LA. Gabriel Pec got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He pulled the ball back a bit, which caught a pair of Dallas defenders. This allowed Joseph Painstil to get free behind the Dallas defense as Pec played him through inside the penalty area. Pec immediately smashed home a shot above Collodi to tie the game.
75’ – Another offside goal. This time on a corner kick for Dallas, after a scrum in the penalty box, Kaick hammered home what looked to be the go-ahead goal. But after a few seconds the flag was raised due to a deflection on Osaze Urhoghide, who was in an offside position.
Instant Reaction
Yeah, this is another disappointing result for this team. In a real way, it felt like the first half against Houston from last month. Dallas grabbed the lead, looked in control, but some defensive miscues opened the game up for the visitors to climb back.
With a double-game week coming up, this will certainly be another game where Dallas will wonder ‘what if’ more than anything else…especially when you factor in the two goals called off for offside.
About the Subs
Eric Quill went to his bench for the first time in the 66th minute, as he brought on Santiago Moreno for Logan Farrington. Quill went to his bench again 81st minute with Ran Binyamin and Nolan Norris coming on for Sebastien Ibeagha and Deedson. The final sub came during stoppage time with Herman Johansson and Joaquin Valiente coming off for Sam Sarver and rookie Nick Simmonds, who made his MLS debut.
Man of the Match
No question about it tonight, it has to be Musa.
Where does this fit into the season
As of this writing, the draw puts Dallas into a three-way tie for 5th place with Real Salt Lake and Seattle. Both are in action right now and look firmly in control of their games. I’d expect Dallas to be in 7th place by the end of the night.
What’s next for FC Dallas
Dallas wraps up a three-game homestand next Wednesday night as they host Minnesota United.
Dallas, TX
Akheem Mesidor selected by Cowboys by Blogging The Boys in SB Nation’s community mock draft
Akheem Mesidor, Edge, Miami
Pass rush has been an issue since the Micah Parsons trade. The Rashan Gary trade helped, but Dallas still needs an injection of talent. Akheem Mesidor fits here because his body size allows for some versatility inside and out, something DC Christian Parker utilizes. Mesidor is also a high-motor player with a deep bag of pass rush moves.
His last season at Miami was full of disruption in the offensive backfield and he shows an all-around game, not just a bend-around-the-edge pass rusher. Yes, he’s a little older than you’d like in a rookie (25), but his motor, pass rush toolbox, and ability to play the run matches up with a need and makes him a quality pick at number 20.
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