Cantare Community: Introducing Rachel Eidbo |
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As part of our ongoing celebration of 25 years of Children’s & Youth Programs, we talked to Rachel Eidbo: former Cantare Board Member, Chorale and Chamber Ensemble singer, and one of the keystone founding members of Cantare’s very first after-school program.
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Tell us how this all started! What were you trying to do and how did you do it?
In 1998, I was looking to volunteer with a youth music program in Oakland. I met Yvonne Crosby Young, Program Director at Samaritan Neighborhood Center, an outreach program of Oakland’s First Baptist Church, serving students from West Oakland. They didn’t have a music program…yet. For a year, I worked with their library and after-school tutoring program. Soon, Yvonne and I began talking about a possible weekly music program.
I knew Cantare was interested in outreach to youth in Oakland, and that David Morales had exceptional talent as a choir director with both adults and children. In the fall of 1999, we proposed a pilot music program to David, and then to the new Cantare Board. They agreed, and David and John Thomas began to lead the program. Yvonne and I coordinated the students, facilities, schedules and many enthusiastic volunteers.
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What was working with that first choir like?
Working with kids can be a challenge, but if you have a relationship with them, you can do it—and it’s fun! I knew most of them already, and they knew me. We already had a rapport.
They had no idea about singing in a choir, at first. They’d maybe heard one on the radio or tv, and one girl knew a song from church… But when they were exposed to good choir leadership for the first time, they started to get the hang of it—and as with any group of singers, some were exceptional.
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You also oversaw the transition from the Samaritan Center to Lafayette Elementary School in West Oakland. What were some of the advantages and challenges of that?
Things you don’t think about in one community are logistically important in another. Getting kids to a concert. The Samaritan Center had a van, they picked up kids from school and took them to the Center and home after rehearsals. When we went to Lafayette Elementary, we had to create a new routine. On concert days, our kids would go to school and stay at school. They went to dress rehearsal, then we provided dinner for them, a break, and then there was the concert.
Change was good because it enabled us to reach more children. Kids loved singing. With strong musical leadership, they had a good experience, so they wanted to be there.
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What is one of your favorite Cantare memories?
The very first concert was huge, filled with pride and amazing to everyone involved. The singers were the center of attention, and the community support added so much! Excited volunteers helped with concert attire and programs. Families cheered for the choir and so many solos! Then, at the end of the concert during long applause, the SNC staff and tutors handed every singer a hand-held bouquet of flowers as they walked off the stage. They were stars!
How do you feel looking back, realizing that over 21,000 Oakland children have come through Cantare’s music offerings, both in school and after school, over these 25 years?
21,000 is impressive! But I’d be impressed if it was less than half that, because I know what a difference it makes in the community. The best measurement is the learning and pride shown by the participants: the joy of singing, increasing self-worth and confidence, orderly enthusiasm, and learning to work well together to present beautiful music for themselves and others. All of us involved knew it was worth it with those first 35 children in the beginning.
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