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Not many elementary students can say they’ve performed music in front of thousands of screaming fans, but then again, the members of the East Lake Expression Engine aren’t like many other elementary students.
For them, getting on stage with blinding lights, fog machines and the backup of a full band in front of a sea of total strangers is just another weeknight. Except when these performers take their bows and go home, they usually have to finish their math homework for school the next day.
“They’re comfortable up there. This is normal to them,” says Libby O’Neil, interim executive director of Expression Engine.
The program is inspired by the ideals of the El Sistema movement, an education model used internationally and built on the notion that music is an effective avenue for developing a child’s creativity and problem-solving skills.
What began in 2014 as a Christ-centered music education program for kids in the East Lake community has more than doubled its number of students and now includes an orchestra, choir and bucket band.
When the program started, only 20 kids participated but, in the years since, it has grown substantially, according to Michael Kendall, one of the co-founders.
“We had 60 or 70 kids last summer,” he says. “And we’re still trying to expand.”
Part of the mission is to open doors for kids, typically black and Latino, who come from lower-income homes in the community by teaching them new skills and helping them showcase those talents, all free of charge.
And, as an added bonus, they learn to do it together.
“An orchestra is a community. As soon a child joins an orchestra, they are no longer poor because they have another identity. It becomes part of their story,” O’Neil says.
If they can play a clarinet or sing in front of hundreds of people, other things that once seemed out of reach might become a clear possibility. Maybe they find a lifelong passion in music. Maybe they teach others when they get a little older. Maybe they go to college because their teachers helped build their confidence and encouraged hard work.
As far as Expression Engine teachers are concerned, there’s nothing they would rather be doing. Nabil Ince, the assistant director of Expression Engine, is a local musician and a junior at Covenant College who has devoted huge amounts of energy to the kids.
“I started volunteering my freshman year and from there it just grew,” he says. “The more they needed help, the more I was willing to help. It changed my life.”
For the dozens of kids who have thrown themselves into the program, playing, practicing and even writing music is almost a part-time job, but Ince says it’s all worth it when they realize what they can do.
“Whenever they get inspired by something music-related, you can see the lights going in their head. You say, ‘Run with that idea. Run with that thing that got your attention,'” he says.
It’s a good thing they love what they do because training can be intensive. The eight-week summer camp involves three hours of practice five days a week. During the school year, students will practice with Expression Engine up to seven hours a week.
All that work produces a talented pool of musicians, none of whom can legally drive themselves to their unending rotation of scheduled performances around Chattanooga.
Perhaps most notably in recent months, the group performed a song written by Ince at a massive talent show hosted by Covenant College
Ince has been working with the children in Expression Engine since he came to Covenant and he wrote the song, “It Always Rains on Tuesdays,” for them to sing and record with him.
They performed the song in the talent show in October to raucous applause then recorded it in the East Lake Park a few weeks later. A music video for the song was released online on Thanksgiving.
“It’s all about the experience, because I didn’t know if the kids have ever recorded a song before. It was fun to do it and get them to hear it,” Ince says.
“Now this is something that’s a part of their story. Being on stage with fog and lights in front of a thousand people. It’s life-giving.”
Listening to the music by this group of young, dedicated musicians is life-giving, too. In “It Always Rains on Tuesdays,” the song is driven by the children’s choir soulful bellowing over a melody of gospel chords played on piano by Ince, who also raps both verses of the song.
“Feed the plants. Clean all the cars. Fill the potholes, tears from the stars,” the children sing on the chorus.
In all, the song is a message of hope and joy, both for the students and for what Expression Engine represents for every student who comes through the door – a celebration of life and community that opens doors every day.
That celebration is best captured in the song’s last verse before the choir swings back in for the final chorus: “You used to wonder what it’s like to touch a cloud, now you huggin’ one, homie ain’t that wild. Let the world know you got some dreams, too. You know what to do, the sun is coming soon.”
Organizers want Expression Engine to grow even larger, but the biggest roadblock is a pressing need for manpower, donated instruments and financial support. The group hopes to reach a $10,000 fundraising goal by the end of the year.
“We’re trying to create long-term, identity-shaping experiences they can hold onto,” Kendall says. “We want to build lifelong musicians.”
Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731. Follow on Twitter @emmettgienapp.