A Sound Education: The Young Violinists of South Central 2000
Distributed by Filmakers Library, 124 East 40th St., New York, NY 10016; 212-808-4980
Produced by USC School of Cinema and Television
Directed by Howard Leder
VHS, color, 26 min.
College - Adult
Music, Education
Date Entered: 11/09/2018
Reviewed by Brad Eden, Ph.D., Head, Web and Digitization Services, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las VegasThis video highlights the Youth Empowerment Center for Creative Achievement (YECCA) in south central Los Angeles, a community extremely sensitive to racial prejudice and hate crimes. Dr. Chen Ho Yun provides low cost after-school music education and violin training for children, and this film documents his teaching style and interviews children participating in the program. Dr. Yun is Korean, and most of his students are African-American or Hispanic.
Dr. Yun teaches the children how to play the violin, about discipline and respect for themselves, and instills in them a love of music. A concert at the Dororthy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles provides the impetus for the children to prepare for their first formal concert, and the film provides clips of the weeks of rehearsal and the concert itself.
This film is recommended for viewing by elementary music education professionals, other non-profit music and arts organizations. It is an interesting case study of a successful inner-city music program. Unfortunately, the length of the video does not allow for much discussion or information regarding the program itself or other aspects of YECCA, and therefore is of rather tangental interest in terms of in-depth research or planning for this type of activity.