“Doing community outreach…is important to our humanity,” said Kim. “I believe in using the gifts we have to beautify our corners of the world and beyond, whenever possible.”
Strings faculty member Heidi Kim is no stranger to playing music as a way to give back to the community. When she was a young violin student, she played concerts at retirement homes and assisted living centers. Playing in front of people and having a concert to work towards were important elements of her music education. Just as important as the practice of performing is sharing the gift of music with others. “Doing community outreach…is important to our humanity,” said Kim. “I believe in using the gifts we have to beautify our corners of the world and beyond, whenever possible.”
Heidi Kim is giving her students the same opportunities she had with monthly community concerts.
On December 8, a small group of her students played at the San Francisco VA Hospital Community Living Center, dedicating the concert to the veterans for their service to the country. Her young students performed classical and Christmas music for the veterans, and were well-received by the residents and staff alike.
On December 23, a larger group of Heidi’s students performed at the San Francisco Fire Department’s Station 14. According to Heidi, planning a concert at a firehouse was “tricky” since the station could get an emergency call at any time. They were able to arrange a concert at a station in the Richmond District that doesn’t get as many calls as other stations. The strings concert was dedicated to the memory of one of the station’s firefighters who had lost his life in an automobile accident and as a general “Thank You” to the firefighters. The students performed classical music and Christmas songs for an audience made up of firefighters and families in the station garage. After the concert, the students got a tour of the fire station with the fire pole being a major highlight.
Heidi remarked that her students are enjoying the community outreach concerts. One of her fourth grade students said the concerts made him feel like he was “traveling the world.” Heidi mentioned that one of the important parts of the outreach concerts is for students to get out of the familiar spaces of performing only at CMC. She is interested to see how her students react to new spaces and feels that performing is great for not only encouraging practice, but also for getting over performance anxiety.
The next studio recital is on January 26. Both her Mission and Richmond District students will be performing at Cypress at Golden Gate retirement home.