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29| W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,June 28,2018 w aterloochronicle.ca ...from community developments to a look at rising stars on the local business, dining, sports and entertainment scenes.We're proud to introduce you to the people & businesses that make up the community of Waterloo! GET A LOCAL PERSPECTIVE ON SHOPS & SERVICES To advertise in the Waterloo Chronicle call 519.579.0301 CITY LIFE Visit waterloochronicle.ca for more coverage In a tiny basement class- room at Waterloo Church of Christ, on Glenelm Cres- cent, Ynes Rodriguez Cor- tez turns up the volume on her cellphone to play Leroy Anderson's The Typewrit- er for a fascinated cluster of four- and five-year-olds. They may never get to actually use such an an- tique word-processer, but they eagerly follow her rhythmic motions, gleeful- ly imitating each swoosh and ding of the carriage re- turn. Under Cortez' encour- aging but disciplined in- struction, they're also dis- covering the joy of percus- sion instruments, the re- corder, singing and note-reading. Instead of telling them to go home and practise, she says, "Go and bother your mom with your song." Needless to say, the parents are happy to oblige. Next door, a group of older beginners on cello and violin are learning to find the notes of the tune Lightly Row. Teacher Cé- sar Carreño Ascanio draws from nearly two decades of performing experience, pa- tiently reviewing one fin- ger placement after anoth- er. He shows them what to do next (now add the bow!) and then moves to the next room to play the viola part with two more-advanced students, in a polished and expressive rendition of Schumann's Traumerei. Other rooms emit the sounds of low-brass scale exercises, tuneful singing and laughter - an encoun- ter that happens for 90 min- utes every weekday after- noon from October to June, thanks to donated instru- ments, space and talent. Cortez, 41, founded Spread the Korban in 2017. The free after-school pro- gram is based on El Siste- ma, founded during the 1970s in her native Venezu- ela; since then it has revo- lutionized community mu- sic-making around the world. From a mere hand- ful last fall, Share the Kor- ban now draws nearly 20 students from two years to 17. Cortez chose the an- cient Hebrew word "kor- ban" because it means a free-will offering that in- creases in value the more it is shared - perfectly de- scribing how her volunteer teachers and students in- teract. "Music fills your soul even when you're alone," she explained. "It's some- thing you can always give." She encountered music through El Sistema while still in high school. The free learning opportunities it offered were life-chang- ing, because her own fami- ly could not afford private lessons. With training in piano, clarinet, recorder and voice, she went on to Vene- zuela's Universidad Na- cional Experimental de Guayana (UNEG), in Guayana City, graduating with diplomas in commu- nity music and dance movement. Her musical ca- reer in Venezuela included singing opera, playing clar- inet in orchestras, and cho- ral conducting, which even included leading deaf mu- sicians in American Sign Language. But growing economic and political uncertainties in Venezuela finally prompted Cortez, husband Alexander, and children Tammy and Gabriel (now 16 and 14), to seek new op- portunities in Canada. Soon after arriving in 2015, Ynes discovered that although music here is a thriving part of national culture, affordable partici- pation is not, especially for large new Canadian fami- lies with limited income. "Music is so expensive to learn here," she lament- ed. "How can you choose just one of your children to have the instrument and lessons?" Cortez and daughter Tammy (also a volunteer teacher) know this first-hand. They have to share the family's one playable clarinet. Instead of complaining, however, Cortez set to work creating musical op- portunities for others in the same situation. Model- ling her approach on El Sis- tema, but without any out- side financial support, she began spreading the call for volunteer instructors, playable used instruments and teaching supplies. Cor- tez' passion and energy soon resulted in enough materials and talent to start growing her dream. As Spread the Korban winds up its first academic year, the program has brightened the lives of chil- dren from many distant places, including South and Central America, Syr- ia and the Middle East, as well as participants with roots right here in Water- loo Region. Asked about her great- est hope for this spirited grassroots music school, Ynes Cortez immediately answered, "More people, more instruments, more love ..." To donate instruments or volunteer your teaching skills, contact Ynes Rodri- guez Cortez, through spreadthekorbanmus- ic@gmail.com. Spread the Korban shares the joy of music Left: Ynes Rodriguez Cortez teaches the school's youngest students how to add rhythm to music; Right: Junior string class students Gabriel, 14, on cello, and Viktoria, 13 and Juliana, 10, on violins go through a note exercise together. After-school program based on Venezuelan music-making philosophy PAULINE FINCH Pauline Finch/photos