Crown of the Continent Guitar Foundation collaboration offers youth guitar classes
When the Crown of the Continent Guitar Foundation and Bigfork ACES after-school program decided to collaborate and offer a beginner guitar program for students in grades 5-8, they were hoping to enroll at least six young students. But when enrollment opened, it quickly became apparent they were going to have a much bigger class.
“Lucky for us, we had enlisted not just a great guitar instructor, but an overall wonderful person in general, Tim Torgerson, to teach the class,” said Arin Lever, Crown Festival Manager.
As the enrollment numbers kept rising, Torgerson said “Please don’t turn any kid away who wants to learn to play the guitar, we’ll figure it out.”
True to the culture that the Crown embodies, two enthusiastic young guitar mentors, Ben Russell and Joseph Torgerson, both scholarship recipients at last summer’s Crown Guitar Workshop, volunteered to help with the class, enabling the program to really make a go of teaching 18 enthusiastic beginner guitar students.
Cathy Hay, program director for Bigfork ACES, said that Lever came to her looking to team up and start a kid’s guitar program that would dovetail with the existing 9-12 grade guitar class, taught at Bigfork High School. The goal of the initial six-week program was to give kids the opportunity to see if they wanted to pursue learning to play the guitar.
“The kids love the classes, they’re excited and seem to remember to bring their guitars on lesson days,” Hays said, adding that she hopes some of the kids might be ready to perform in the upcoming Cowabunga fundraiser to be held in Bigfork on April 14-16.
“It’s the perfect age to introduce kids to guitar because they are at a pivotal point where they are learning about who they are and what interests them,” Lever said.
A huge part of the program’s success has come from a generous donation provided by the annual Bigfork Brewfest event coordinated by Hilary Shepard, according to Lever. The donation was used to purchase take-home guitars for students that are stored at the Bigfork ACES building so kids can continue to practice. Lever said both organizations are humbled by the outreach.
“It’s one thing to offer a class, but it’s a whole other entity, when you have so much community support behind what you are doing,” Lever said.
Extending guitar education opportunities for youth year-round has been a long-time goal of the COCGF.
“We love our annual world-class workshop and festival in August and September and we’ve hosted many short workshops in local schools, but there was still some room to grow and make a difference in our local youth musician community,” Lever said. “Thanks to some amazing local sponsors and educators, that dream has become a reality.”
With the overall response and success of the program, Lever said, the Crown has its sights set on a bigger vision to partner with other communities across the Flathead Valley. Crown also plans to offer another beginner guitar class in Bigfork this fall.
Currently, the COCGF sponsors 10 or more scholarships for Flathead Valley teachers, performers and students to attend the annual, week-long workshop, which this year will be held Aug. 28 to Sept. 4.
“It’s amazing to think that five years down the road these students taking lessons may be applying for scholarships — that is our hope!” Lever said.
For more information about the Bigfork ACES guitar programs, contact Hay at 406-249-9598. To learn more about the Crown Guitar Workshop Scholarship program, contact Amelia Thornton at 855-855-5900 or go online to www.crownguitarfest.org.
Founded in 2009, the nonprofit Crown of the Continent Guitar Foundation celebrates the love of the guitar and the magical splendor of Montana. The Foundation provides scholarships and collaborates with other nonprofit organizations in the Flathead Valley. The workshop is a perfect opportunity for drawing inspiration, perfecting technique and deepening one’s passion for the guitar and music. For more information, visit www.cocguitarfoundation.org.