The Great Falls resident leads 21st Century Music Solutions. A former music teacher, Levin is spending part of his summer trying to spread music to children whose families can’t afford lessons.
What prompted you to give away music lessons?
When I first started, I was teaching in an underprivileged section of Prince George’s County, and I saw a lot of students who were really talented but couldn’t afford private lessons. I realized how much of a difference it made in their lives. There’s no correlation between your circumstances growing up and your talent.
How will the investment of musical education pay off for the kids down the road?
There’s obviously a lot of research that’s been done about how music affects math and science scores. But there’s also a lot more opportunities in music commerce than there were 10 or 15 years ago. A lot of the kids today who learn about music are able to put their music online, market themselves and sell their music, and a lot of these kids are able to make [music] a nice secondary — and, in some cases, significant — source of income.
Where does technology come into this?
We teach the students as young as 3 years old how to use the technology to create music. The technology actually speeds up the process by which they can learn the music theory and the basic foundations. In the past, you had to learn note-by-note and music became more of a systematic approach. Now, kids are able to dig into a more practical approach.
How many kids are you helping out?
We’re going to have about 50 kids this summer. We want to expand it throughout the school year, too. This is our first summer trying this kind of a program, and I think this will gain a lot of traction over time.
— Alan Blinder
