Howard Sandifer, the founder of the Chicago West Community Music Center (CWCMC), reflects on the 25th anniversary of the school that continues to enrich lives through music.
CWCMC, headquartered on the West Side of Chicago, was founded by Sandifer and his wife, Darlene, in 1999. He serves as the executive director, while his wife is the managing director.
The busy educator and music man tells our readers what inspired the launch of CWCMC’s many programs, including the popular video podcast “Black Muse,” and shares why you don’t want to miss this year’s gala on Juneteenth (June 19, 2024,) from 5:30 pm-8:30 pm at the Museum of Contemporary Art at 220 E. Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611.
N’DIGO: Tell us what we can expect at Chicago West Community Music Center’s 25th Anniversary Gala.
Howard Sandifer: We are celebrating the accomplishments and the future work of Chicago West Community Music Center. It’s been 25 years that we have been in existence. We’ve made a serious impact in our community where we’ve been able to bring cutting-edge, innovative music programs, exciting music experiences and we are planning to expand our programming to provide even more educational opportunities as well as musical experiences. In addition to that we will be presenting the original work that I had the honor to write a dance suite entitled “Sweet Freedom Suite,” honoring and celebrating the lives of eight great freedom fighters. They are: Frederick Douglass, Dr. Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, James Baldwin, Fannie Lou Hamer, Nelson Mandela, Ruby Bridges and Nina Simone. Each movement is written in a different musical style; for Dr. King it is house music.
For Mandela we did a style of music called marimba which is a style of contemporary jazz. We covered a lot of different music genres that we thought were appropriate for the kind of expression we wanted to give each of the freedom fighters, including gospel, blues and freedom jazz.
Give us the breakdown of the gala.
The gala will be held on Juneteenth, June 19, 2024 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Avenue. The hours for the event are 5:30 to 8:30. From 5:30 to 6:00 there will be a reception, from 6:00 to 7:30 there will be the actual performance and from 7:30 to 8:30 will be a post reception.
You are honoring Helen Zell, one of Chicago’s most dedicated leaders of music education.
Yes, we are honoring Helen Zell, a wonderful philanthropist. She has been supporting many arts organizations here in Chicago but especially the Chicago West Community Music Center for many years. We want to acknowledge all the work that she’s done and the support that we received from her and simply say “Thank you.”
Where did the inspiration for “Sweet Freedom Suite” come from?
It came from Nelson Mandela when he was released from prison. He was a man of such strong character, not bitter but a look of hope in his eyes. He walked with such pride and right beside him was his wife, Winnie. As he was walking out of the prison, crowds of people were celebrating his release as well and they were doing a celebration dance. I could just feel the music coming from the heavens, celebrating this very special moment. That’s when the music of “Sweet Freedom Suite” was born.
Joel Hall choreographed “Sweet Freedom Suite,” is that correct?
Joel Hall, the legendary choreographer, choreographed the work, and it’s going to be an eye-opening experience for everyone. His work is stellar. He is a remarkable, well-respected, world-renowned choreographer, and he doesn’t disappoint with the work that he’s done for this company. Eight dancers from his company will perform. They will also be wearing original costumes by McKinley Johnson.
Why did you choose the date Juneteenth to hold your gala?
That date, of course, is a day of celebration. It was the day all the enslaved were made aware of the Emancipation Proclamation and informed that they were officially free. We wanted to celebrate our gala with the theme of freedom on Juneteenth. The relationship is a testament to the resilience and enduring spirit of those who fought for liberation and those who continue to strive for a more just and equitable society.
Let’s go back to 1999 when you and your wife, Darlene, sat at your kitchen table and were inspired to start CWCMC. Did you have any idea that it would last this long?
Humbly, we did. We thought it would be a successful venture merely because it was needed for the kind of institution/organization we started. I guess the seed was planted in my mind after reading a book by one of my heroes, John H. Johnson’s “Succeeding Against The Odds,” where he talked about how he had ideas for his successful ventures, JET magazine, Fashion Fair Cosmetics, Ebony and the radio stations. He explained how he enjoyed Life magazine, which was the most popular magazine then, but our people were completely ignored and neglected by the magazine. He saw the need for a magazine to tell the stories of African Americans that had not been told. There was a void there, but he filled it. That was our approach to Chicago West. There was such a need for high-quality music education and music experience, particularly on the West Side of Chicago in our community. They had taken music and the arts out of Chicago Public Schools due to budgetary cuts. We felt that was unjust and unfair, and something had to be done. My background is in music education, and Darlene’s background is in business. We decided we would start a music school to provide only the country’s highest quality music education programs and experiences. Twenty-five years later, we are grateful that it has succeeded, and we are confident that it will continue to succeed, not because of us, by no means, but by providing a very necessary entity which is necessary for the community, high-quality music education programming and music experiences.
What has been your biggest challenge over the years?
Funding. Ours is considered arts and education and there are so many organizations that do similar work that we do and all of those organizations are going after the same funding source foundations .In the last few years the funding sources changed, due to social issues, particularly caused by COVID, so where funding before would be going to arts and education, now many of those funding sources have been directed toward health concerns. Violence is also considered a health issue in our community. A lot of our funding which existed before just doesn’t exist now. So, funding has been our biggest challenge.
How many students did you have in your first class 25 years ago?
Our very first year we started with an intergenerational guitar program. We had six students and six parents or grandparents. It was a before school activity at 7:30 in the morning and the students with their parents or grandparents were right there with them learning how to play guitar. And now today, we are reaching an average of about 1200 students a year.
Tell us about the various programs that stem from CWCMC.
We have them from the young to the not-so-young. The most popular program which is our teenagers and young adults called ‘The Business of Music” where we teach the students about the music industry and that includes everything from music production to publishing, the various aspects of the music industry, performance. Another popular program is called The Berklee Initiative which teaches students about music theory and that is in collaboration with the Berklee College of Music out of Boston. They provide a cutting-edge curriculum which we use. In addition to that we have the Laptop Orchestra where students learn how to create music using a laptop computer. Another program that we’re very proud of is called the W.I.S.H. Program, that stands for West Side Instructional String and Harp program where we provide instruction in violin, viola, cello, bass, harp and piano. We have students as young as 5 years old all the way up to seniors who are participating in that program. Also, we have CWCMC Orchestra which many of our students from W.I.S.H. transition into. The Orchestra performs a wide range of music from classical to jazz to blues, R&B, to house music.
Tell us about CWCMC’s “Black Muse” video podcast.
It’s a hugely popular program that airs on Sundays at 5:30 pm on the Black Muse Channel on YouTube. We are always very proud to say that our very first interview was with the great Dionne Warwick. Where do you go from there when you start with Dionne Warwick? In addition to Ms. Warwick, we’ve had Tavis Smiley, Merri Dee, Ramsey Lewis, Congressman Danny Davis, Marshall Thompson of the Chi-Lites, Gene Chandler and the list goes on with important newsmakers. “Black Muse” will premiere its sixth season in September.
Chicago West Community Music Center has so many other cutting-edge programs, like the popular Night Out In The Parks summer concert series.
That’s the concert series that we do in collaboration with the Chicago Park District. We hold free concerts in June, July and August. We present some of the best talent in the city of Chicago. Last year, we paid tribute to the legendary Dells in a concert performed by the sons of The Dells, called Dells Too. We’ve done tributes to Jerry Butler, Earth, Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Quincy Jones and all these concerts were performed by some of the leading artists in Chicago. This summer we are planning a tribute to Whitney Houston performed by Chicago West alumni Rana House. We are also doing a salute to El DeBarge, that will be presented by another Chicago West alumni and professional singer, Charles Brown. We also look forward to guitarist Keith Henderson who will pay tribute to Chicago Soul Music. He has played with The Chi-Lites and The Emotions and so many others.
How can we purchase tickets for the gala on June 19th?
All information can be found on our website here: https://www.cwcmc.org/25th-anniversary
You can find information on how to purchase tickets or if you want to donate to the school, it’s all right there. I welcome the public to come out and celebrate with us at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.
