Pulled from reports written by Bill Rhoads and Daniel de Jesús, organized by Abby Rolland*
As part of The Presser Foundation’s drive to be more transparent and to amplify the work of its partners, it uses information from grant reports to highlight its grantees.
Each post will spotlight one partner, who has final say over the contents and structure of the post. In this way, the Foundation hopes to not only use information from grant reports (which often go unread and unused), but also to shine the light on many wonderful music organizations.
This post focuses on Esperanza Arts Center (Esperanza) and its partner Artístas y Músicos Latinos Americanos (AMLA). Located in the Hunting Park neighborhood of North Philadelphia, Esperanza and AMLA provide a number of services, including music and arts programming, to a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood. The Foundation gives general operating support via Advancement of Music to both organizations and has also supported several of Esperanza’s recent capital projects.
The story below highlights Esperanza, AMLA, and how they have engaged their Hunting Park community.
Background of the Esperanza Arts Center
From its earliest days, Esperanza recognized that community residents’ lack of agency was one of the most destructive causes of the cycle of poverty. The leaders of Esperanza knew through their local networks that the community needed to possess the confidence, knowledge, and skills to successfully travel on any route provided for them. For many in North Philadelphia, there was little reason to believe that a path to stability existed.
As part of the vision to expand access and stability, the Esperanza Arts Center was dedicated in December 2018. As part of Esperanza’s neighborhood strategic plan, the Arts Center is in a Latino arts and cultural district along the 5th Street business corridor, which is effectively Hunting Park’s “downtown.” Esperanza believes that this space will help to define Hunting Park as a regional center for Latino arts and culture, a place where people want to live and work, and a destination for people from across the Greater Philadelphia area.
A performance at Esperanza Arts Center
The goal of the Esperanza Arts Center is to become a beacon of Latino arts and culture – helping residents of Hunting Park and the surrounding community experience high-quality artistic performances and drawing in both Latino and non-Latino arts lovers from across the region. In pursuing this ambitious objective, the Arts Center has a mixture of short- and long-term impacts. In the short-term, people of all ages are encouraged to participate and attend various programs and performances. If not for the Arts Center, they would have little access to productions of the caliber that are presented on a regular basis. This in itself is an important impact, since it helps to establish a new narrative for residents of Latino North Philadelphia, one in which their community is an integral part of the larger Philadelphia community and people who look like them have the opportunity to become professional producers and performing artists. Developing these narratives is a critical step on the path to self-sufficiency.
But perhaps even more important than these individual performances is the long-term impact that the Arts Center’s programming can make on the young people of North Philadelphia. As noted above, most artists who perform at the Teatro Esperanza (the venue that presents the performances) also participate in several days of residency activities, during which they interact directly with students at Esperanza Academy and other local youth.
In addition to performances and residencies, Esperanza Arts Center offers a Mentor-Fellows program for high school students, allowing participants to get paid on-the-job training with accomplished industry professionals by assisting in all facets of live, recorded, streamed, and broadcast productions and arts marketing and communications. Fellows who have successfully worked through the Esperanza Arts Center Mentor Fellow program are offered opportunities to work in training programs, internships, and entry-level positions at venues throughout the Philadelphia region. These sustained interactions can have a profound effect on the lives of the young people that Esperanza serves. Many students in the neighborhood have little sense of the educational and professional possibilities available to them. By interacting with professional artists, they begin to increase their understanding of and pride in their own cultural heritage and expand their view of what is achievable.
Capital Improvements for the Esperanza Arts Center
In 2020-21, The Presser Foundation’s Capital Support Committee expanded the guidelines for the Capital Support grantmaking area to address organization’s needs during the COVID-19 pandemic (you can read more about why the Foundation extended the guidelines here). Organizations could apply for funding for capital needs such as equipment, technology, hardware, and software.
That year, Esperanza applied for and received funding to install a new Cyclorama curtain in the Teatro Esperanza and to acquire a new sub-woofer system for the theater. With that equipment, Esperanza has been better able to support the widest variety of productions at the highest quality for their community.
In 2021-22, the Capital Support Committee extended the expanded guidelines for another year. Esperanza applied for funding for production equipment for the Arte en las Calles (Art in the Streets) program to support its return to full scale live programming. The series presents live, free outdoor music, dance, films, and theatrical productions in the Hunting Park neighborhood
that celebrate, connect, and reflect the North Philadelphia community. Presented as neighborhood events throughout the year, Arte en las Calles celebrates North Philadelphia residents, honors significant events and achievements, and provides a platform for community members to collectively enjoy and appreciate the arts in a casual outdoor setting.
In 2022-23, the Committee again extended the guidelines, and the Arts Center received funding to purchase equipment that helps them further connect with the community through expanded dissemination of our Arte en las Calles series. The outdoor system acquired will livestream/broadcast live screenings and previously recorded performances to the community.
The equipment purchased, including a transportable projection screening, allows for Arte en las Calles to be expanded throughout the Hunting Park neighborhood by bringing recorded and live streamed performances to other neighborhood locations.
AMLA
Artístas y Músicos Latino Americanos (AMLA) promotes the development, dissemination, and understanding of Latin American music and culture with a strong emphasis on youth. AMLA joined forces with Esperanza in 2006 and has served the Hunting Park neighborhood since.
To accomplish its mission, AMLA provides several music education programs, including the Latin School of Performing Arts (LSPA), Artists in Education, and the Youth Musical Ensembles program.
Latin School of Performing Arts (LSPA)
LSPA provides culturally relevant music instruction to young people after school and on Saturdays. LSPA’s methodology is dedicated to the study, practice, and development of Latin musical traditions – including their roots and their social and cultural impact on society. Private and group instruction is offered in a variety of instruments including Puerto Rican Cuatro/guitar, brass, strings, drums, Latin percussion, and piano. Vocal instruction is available for both individuals and chorale groups, and a sound engineering program is offered two days per week for students interested in the behind-the-scenes work of the music industry. A partnership with the Berklee College of Music’s online Berklee PULSE Program gives all LSPA students access to music theory education free of charge, which increases their depth of musical knowledge, prepares them for professional studies or careers in the arts, and challenges them to grow and develop in new ways.
The Winter and Spring recitals serve as opportunities for LSPA students to share what they have learned throughout the year with the community and their families and friends. Also offered to students through the program are additional activities to engage with the community, to showcase their improved skills and talents, and to develop self-confidence by expanding their musical horizons through education and performance.
In addition to the education received in the LSPA, students develop mentor-like relationships with their instructors and receive guidance not only in learning to make music but also how to develop vital interpersonal skills from friendship to family troubles.
With the median household income less than $25,000 in Hunting Park, LPSA lessons are provided at a discounted rate ($22.50 a week for private lessons and $18.75 a week for group lessons). There are also scholarship opportunities available.
Artists in Education
Artists in Education brings music education to larger audiences in school settings. Artists in Education takes Latino-themed interactive music presentations and workshops such as “Puerto Rican Sounds,” “African Roots,” and “Latin Jazz” to area schools to share with students of all ages in an atmosphere that exposes young people to musical traditions reflective of their cultural heritage or that of their friends and neighbors, and unites them through the joy of music. The program also works to arrange multi-week artist-in-residence programs that allow experienced professional musicians to teach classes and work more closely with aspiring young musicians at community schools.
Youth Musical Ensembles
AMLA’s Youth Musical Ensembles are open to the most advanced students in its classes, displaying natural talent and a deep interest in their musical studies. This year, the featured ensembles are the Esperanza Academy AMLA Music Ensemble for middle and high school students, the Sacred Music Choir for elementary school students, and the Latin Jazz Ensemble for high school students. The ensembles offer AMLA students invaluable experience working as a team, performing for diverse audiences, and strengthening their skills as young musicians.
Esperanza’s and AMLA’s Partnerships
Not only do the Esperanza Arts Center and AMLA have their own programming, they also partner with other music organizations in Philadelphia to strengthen knowledge about and awareness of Hispanic/Latino music.
They partner with Mamadêlê Foundation, which provides educational opportunities for students to learn about Afro-Brazilian music. Esperanza partnered with World Cafe Live (WCL) to host educational events at the Arts Center as part of WCL’s Puerta Abierta Series. And, they have a current collaboration with Piffaro, the Renaissance Band.
An image of Piffaro and AMLA musicians from their collaboration. Photo by Bill DiCecca.
In spring 2023, Piffaro artistic director Priscilla Herreid worked with AMLA director Daniel de Jesús to select materials which de Jesús’ students studied for two weeks. Soprano Nell Snaidas, Argentinian tenor and lutenist Jonatan Alvarado, and Piffaro musicians then joined AMLA students to explore 16th and 17th century forms of a tradition in which a written melody is presented without accompaniment, which is improvised by the performer. Alvarado specializes in this tradition.
A public performance took place as part of Esperanza’s concert season at their Teatro on Friday, May 12. AMLA students joined Piffaro’s musicians onstage to present what both groups discovered together during their residency. The program also featured the intricate polyphony written by Spanish and Indigenous composers in 16th century Peru, Paraguay, and Bolivia. De Jesús and Alvarado concluded the evening with a bilingual post-concert Q&A with the audience.
This project presented an opportunity for Piffaro’s musicians to use their specialized expertise to connect modern Latino audiences and young musicians to a magnificent Latin American body of work that they, like classical music audiences in general, are likely unaware of.
Conclusion
Through their own programming and through collaborations with other organizations, Esperanza Arts Center and AMLA seek to connect students to music and raise awareness about Hispanic/Latino musical traditions. Their efforts with the Hunting Park community in North Philadelphia emphasize the importance of engaging with community by meeting people where they are, and their willingness to partner with other music organizations demonstrates how nonprofits can collaborate on performances and education that inspire, educate, and engage a diverse audience.
*Special thanks to Bill Rhoads of Esperanza Arts Center and Daniel de Jesús of AMLA for contributing to this blog post through writing various applications and reports for The Presser Foundation.
