In case you missed it, the following is an article written by Sedona Red Rock News reporter Zachary Jernigan for the October 28th issue featuring Javier Diaz.
A high note can shatter glass, but as Sedona Red Rock High School junior Javier Diaz knows, glass is also an ideal medium to show one's love for music.
During the Verde Valley Sinfonietta's first concert of the 2015-16 season Sunday, Oct. 25, Diaz presented a stained glass violin - the first piece he had ever created using the material - to Sinfonietta Board President Marion Maby. The violin acted as a thank-you to the organization for its support of musical programs at SRRHS, West Sedona School, Sedona Charter School and Big Park Community School.
The Sinfonietta’s contributions are long-reaching. In 2014, the Arizona Community Foundation of Sedona and the city of Sedona approved the Sinfonietta’s grant proposal. The grant quickly moved beyond the scope of the original plan, resulting in a number of material contributions.
“Jeannie Carroll at WSS requested and received a set of nine Orff instruments in all musical ranges and accompanying teaching materials to teach musical concepts to her classes,” Sinfonietta Business Manager Gayle Taylor stated.
“Jill Whitener at BPCS asked for instrument repair, music books and additional teaching time. Kristina Beachell at the Sedona Charter School applied the grant monies to 24 music stands and cart, maintenance and repair fees for their string instruments and the purchase of one viola.”
Yeates, meanwhile, “reported that her string program was making great strides but was sorely in need of replacement strings for instruments and additional equipment. The grant monies to SRRHS paid for new strings for 22 instruments, 15 new violin bows, two violas and 17 shoulder rests for violins and viola.” The additions of violas would prove transformational to one student in particular: Diaz, who had found himself stuck in Beginning Orchestra during the 2014-2015 school year with no prior experience, excelled at the violin – “despite his protests,” Yeates said with a smile as she stood before a classroom full of students Oct. 23 0 but became a true inspiration when he picked up the instrument’s larger cousin.
“He’s taken off since starting the viola,” Yeates added. “It’s his spirit instrument.”
Yeates held up a clay violin Diaz gave to her last year. Recognizing her student for an artist, she encouraged him to create something even more ambitious this year. What neither Yeates nor Diaz knew is that creating a stained glass violin would take five four-hour days to complete.
“It’s pretty challenging, but fun at the same time” Diaz said. “Unless you cut yourself.”
Taylor sees the relationship between the Sinfonietta and local schools as symbiotic – an investment in the future of live music in Sedona: “Not only the Sinfonietta musicians are making music. Local students now have well-equipped instruments in good repair on which to practice. The Sinfonietta hopes that its partnership with schools will eventually produce the players as well as the audiences of the future.”