Guitars for Change: For Young, At-Risk Immigrant Students, A Musical Haven

Joining Tom in the studio is a wonderful classical guitarist named Gabriel Rodriguez. He’s performed in his native Puerto Rico, Spain, and the United States. He lives here in Baltimore now, where he teaches in the Guitars for Change program, an initiative of the Baltimore Classical Guitar Society. To remind us what a beautiful instrument the classical guitar is, Gabriel plays a piece by Spanish composer Iván Ríjos, called Lágrimas de Jesús (Tears of Jesus). Launched in the fall of 2018 in collaboration with “Centro de Ayuda” (Center of Help) in Annapolis, Guitars for Change identifies immigrant youth in the community who are at risk and provides them with free guitars and lessons in an after-school program. The Guitar Society’s president and CEO, Asgerdur Sigurdardottir, also joins Tom to announce that the after-school program will be expanding to a new, second location at Baltimore's Clay Hill Public Charter School in the Bayview area. You can hear the students from the Guitars for Change program, as well as several other guitar ensembles from around the area, in concert a week from Saturday, March 8th in the Linehan Concert Hall on the campus of UMBC in Catonsville. Click here for details. This conversation was livestreamed on WYPR's Facebook page. You can watch the video here, from 43:00 to 53:30 in the feed.Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.