Editor's note: This story was originally published in the .
On a humid Tuesday afternoon in June, Rosalind-Denise Rogers is wrapping up a class at a local church. It was the first day of the summer session for , which Rogers founded.
Rogers teaches the remaining two students, one on the cello and the other on the double bass. Her instructions are calm and clear. Rogers鈥� soothing voice doesn鈥檛 waver when the students make a mistake on a note. Instead, her instructions become even calmer and clearer. She uses hand gestures and voice intonations that mimic the notes she wants to hear.
Rogers wants them to feel the music, not simply play it. After a couple of tries, both students hit the right note.
This session takes place at on Colas Avenue where Rogers鈥� uncle is the pastor. It鈥檚 the practice location du jour, as The Inner Ear doesn鈥檛 have an official home for rehearsals. The two students rode with her to attend the session, so Rogers has to drop them off at home.
Finding a place to practice while providing transportation to students in need is a common exercise for Rogers since starting the orchestra. But those are tasks that need to happen to fulfill her desire of making the arts accessible for children in East St. Louis.
Rogers, a music teacher at , remembers a tear-jerking moment when one of her students dressed like a professional violinist for career day.
鈥淣ow, here we are having students ask those questions, 鈥楥an you make money in music?,鈥欌�� Rogers, 30, said. 鈥淚s that a real job? Being able to show them firsthand, yes this is my career. Yes, this is my business. I know that a lot of students are given hope by that. That鈥檚 how I know that I鈥檓 doing what I鈥檓 supposed to do.鈥�
Officially established in the city in 2019, the nonprofit creates a community , ages 3-17, have access to quality music education and perform in quarterly recitals. Students in the program receive instruction on playing the violin, cello, viola and double bass.
Cost of classes run from $225-$350 depending on the quarter, but Rogers, through community grants, assures that most of her students are able to get scholarships to participate in the program. That dedication is likely why the of St. Louis recently named her this year鈥檚 Arts Educator of the Year.
Rogers returned to East St. Louis in 2017 after taking the music teaching position at Lincoln. She was born and raised in the city, but her family moved to Kansas City, Kansas, when she was younger.
The self-taught violinist attended school at in Chicago, where she studied music education with a concentration in violin. But being a Black girl who wanted to professionally play the violin wasn鈥檛 easy for Rogers. Her experiences inspired her to start The Inner Ear and an orchestra at Lincoln Middle School.
She鈥檚 a firm believer in 鈥渨e can鈥檛 really say we鈥檙e lovers of the arts unless we鈥檙e making it accessible.鈥�
Rogers talked to The Belleville News-Democrat about her passion for classical music and giving children in East St. Louis the opportunity to discover their own.
Why did you want to start these orchestral programs in East St. Louis?
When I told a colleague that I was going to East St. Louis, I was told to go somewhere where the resources wouldn鈥檛 be as strained. I wouldn鈥檛 have to beg and ask for things, and stuff like that. While that was clearly something other districts had over this one, if every teacher decided to go to a place like that鈥� affluent, resourceful, wonderful environment鈥攊f every teacher chooses that, where does that leave these babies who never chose to be where they are? That鈥檚 the mindblowing part for me.
What were you doing before you moved?
In 2017, I was done with school. I was a program director of the (local) Boys & Girls Club, and the principal of Lincoln called me and said that my application came across her desk. I think it was maybe a year after I sent it. I drove up there the first week, met the principal and interviewed. Drove up the next week, took the tests in enrollment and stuff. I left my daughter in Kansas for two weeks and prepared a place for her here with schools and stuff, and then we moved here.
I was in love from that moment on. My first day at Lincoln, a student had came up to me and was like 鈥楳s. Rogers, I opened up the piano for you.鈥� He had scissors and screws in his hand. They had nailed the piano shut. There was a sub in there and they had a computer desk. It was just not a music room, but when they knew it was a music teacher coming, they were ready to show that that鈥檚 what they were there for. At that moment, I felt like that鈥檚 what that young man and those kids were saying. We made music with the piano that day. What I鈥檝e learned through these years is that they really want to be able to depend on something and someone. They鈥檙e so used to things not going and not happening that they鈥檝e been told to do that when it does, they鈥檙e in total disbelief.
How long have you been playing the violin? How did you get introduced to it?
It was while we were still living here in Rush City (in East St. Louis) at age 5 or 4 going into 5. I remember when TV used to go off and there was nothing else to watch but the infomercial and commercials and stuff. One day I stayed up late, and called myself trying to watch TV, and I was watching PBS. It wasn鈥檛 Arthur or anything. It was an orchestra playing. I remember looking at these people in the chairs, and it was huge. There were a lot of men and a lot of women, but there were no Black people. It was white and Asian at this time. Culturally, people think that the violin and cello are girly instruments. They attach it to the feminine side when, for a long time, the only people who could play the violin were not just men, but white men.
I looked at the screen and said I鈥檓 going to be the only Black person playing the violin. The more I played the violin and the better I got, the more rooms I stepped in, and it became painfully clear that I had chosen something that people thought I didn鈥檛 deserve. Here I am at 16, the first time I鈥檓 feeling that and understand that historically, no one expected this young Black girl to get this and then be good at it and then make a career out of that.
My desire to be the only one changed to I want to teach. I want to let other Black girls know.
Can you give me an example of a time when you didn鈥檛 feel like you belonged?
About 15 or 16 years old, when I was in the ninth grade, that鈥檚 about the age for contests where you would go to another school for the weekend and play your songs there and get graded. One Saturday, I went. There just happened to be one other Black girl there. They asked if we were sisters, and I had to go home and ask my mom and talk about that. To put us together just like that because we鈥檙e both in a room that we clearly don鈥檛 belong to so we must be related, is what it felt like.
Once some of the kids realized that Rosalind was serious about what she was doing, that鈥檚 when the pranks and water in the chair and the unintentional hits and the things that really show you the other side (happened).
Is that what made you want to transition from performing to teaching?
I was a performer first. The teaching part came when there was a little girl across the street. She saw me playing. I was maybe six or seven years older than her. She came across the street and wanted me to teach her. At this time I鈥檇 been playing for eight or nine years, so I thought I knew what there was to know and could do that.
We sat up in the yard. We had music stands and a violin. I got ready to teach her, and I didn鈥檛 know what I was doing. It was at that moment that I acknowledged that I really didn鈥檛 know what I was doing. That set the quest on (going to) school.
That quest led to you start an orchestra at Lincoln Middle School鈥攖he only one in the district鈥� and The Inner Ear Youth Orchestra. What do you want to offer your students?
You don鈥檛 know what we do when we鈥檙e actually playing the music, and I think that speaks for the power of music. When all of my kids play together, you wouldn鈥檛 know that three of them鈥檚 mom is a doctor and the other one maybe she doesn鈥檛 have a job. None of that matters when they start playing. To give them that opportunity to where they can find a place in this world where they belong and where their background does not matter鈥攖hat鈥檚 what I believe that I give. That鈥檚 what my desire is to give to them.
I know what it鈥檚 like to be the only one, the only Black person choosing what you chose, the only Black person doing what you鈥檙e doing, feeling like there鈥檚 no one else like this, (so) why am I trying this until you see someone who looks like you.
Having both exposure and access to the arts is important.
Let鈥檚 be forreal. We鈥檙e in East St. Louis. If a parent has to choose between feeding their kid and introducing a new skill or a new talent or a new hobby, we already know what鈥檚 going to happen. As a mom, I understand, so my desire is to show them and provide resources. Just because you鈥檙e a mom and work all day doesn鈥檛 mean you don鈥檛 want your kid to experience something like this. Just because you鈥檙e a single father doesn鈥檛 mean you don鈥檛 care what your kid does. You do. When you鈥檙e in a program where a kid needs too much of the parent, most of the time, the kid has to miss out .
Did you face similar challenges growing up?
My mom was a teacher. My dad was a bus driver, so they鈥檙e working, taking care of other people鈥檚 kids and stuff like that. Because classical music wasn鈥檛 a well-known thing in Black families, so when you have this kid that does it, what I notice in Black homes, when we鈥檙e good at something, our parents literally throw us out in front of everybody. It鈥檚 like yea, she can sing. Go sing for your grandma or she鈥檚 going to sing at church because this is what she does and there鈥檚 never really a formal training process. There鈥檚 no desire to make sure that they have a teacher so that they鈥檙e doing it right. It sounds good already to them.
I think that鈥檚 the situation I was in. My mom and dad鈥攖hey supported me, but it wasn鈥檛 until I was 15 or 16 that I tried to get my own teacher and just have my parents pay for it. I knew I needed more help. I knew what kind. They didn鈥檛 really know or understand or even value it. I don鈥檛 fault them for it because I know if we did this again, they would do it differently.
We were poor. They took care of us. They did their best, and how I honor it is filling in the gaps that (for) even the best parents, they cannot fill. They can鈥檛 go to work all day and take them to practice.
How have those challenges manifested themselves in your program?
One of them is a residency or a location for our organization. We depend heavily on community organizations allowing us to use their space. The second thing is transportation. A lot of the students want to do this. A lot of parents want their kids to be a part of something like this. Even now, it鈥檚 10-3, most parents are at work. Most parents cannot get their kids here. Honestly, I can鈥檛 do it any earlier either. Transportation would change dramatically the reach that the Inner Ear has. That, along with funding, of course. Most of the kids get a scholarship. The program costs $225, and most of the students are here on a full ride, and the ones that don鈥檛, they generally get a scholarship. Nobody goes unhelped in this situation.
Those things don鈥檛 discourage me really, but it just makes me realize that heart is not enough. My desire to do this is not enough. The community helping, it means a lot.
Therewarded your dedication to your students when they named you Art Educator of the Year. How did that feel?
It was a very exciting time. Winning the art educator award really encouraged me because, again, you are reminded in certain situations that those feelings of being alone, but when we talk about the art education council and what they do and all these individuals who are working together to raise money and bring awareness to things that are happening in the music classroom, it鈥檚 very encouraging.
I found out this year that I am not alone. There are people that support me. There are people who see what I鈥檓 doing and value it. Seeing is not enough. Valuing it and understanding what鈥檚 going on is the other part.
The next summer session for The Inner Ear Youth Orchestra runs from July 25-Aug 5. For more information on how to get involved or donating to the orchestra, click .
