Mt. Lebanon’s Emma Chothani’s help at school was notable
Music is a team sport for Emma Chothani.
A pianist since age 5 and cellist since third grade, she appreciates the way complementary melodies, and the musicians playing them, work together. She also saw an opportunity for one group of musicians to mentor another, which became the 19-year-old’s Girl Scouts Gold Award project.
Knowing about music programbudget cuts in local schools, she reached out to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Musicians Care Fund. They pointed her toward some specific schools in need of help, and, logistically, Westwood Elementary — a Pittsburgh Public School in the Westwood neighborhood — worked out best.
Each Friday, Emma and five other Mt. Lebanon musician-students left school three periods early and headed to the West End school. According to Emma, up to 40 students can be present for music lessons at Westwood, which can make it “really hard for kids to learnanything.”
The strings teacher welcomed the extra sets of hands, and the kids appreciated more individualized attention. Emma and crew also gathered 30 gently used music lesson books from Mt. Lebanon students for the Westwood music department.
Emma is now a sophomore environmental science major at McGill University, but, assuming COVID-19 restrictions are eased this school year, she hopes the project will continue in her stead.
“Music is a very healing artform for me, a big form of expression” she said during down time at Girl Scouts camp, where she works for the summer. “It’s a lot about teamwork. It’s a great way tobe a part of a group.”