CIM Hosts Fellow for Kennedy Center State Department Fellowship

(CLEVELAND, OHIO) April 6, 2010 - The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) recently hosted Bernadette Williams, from Port Au Prince, Haiti, as part of an International Fellowship Mentoring Program. Ms. Williams, a Manager of Holy Trinity Orchestra and Choir in Port Au Prince, spent the week gaining an understanding of CIM's structure and operations, through attendance of master classes, departmental meetings, orchestra rehearsals, distance learning classes, student recitals and more.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in partnership with the U.S. Department of State, selected Ms. Williams and 13 other international arts managers as part of a Cultural Exchange Visitor Program which brought emerging international artists to the United States and provided them with instructive and informative experiences in their arts discipline. From March 14 through April 7, 2010, these international fellows participated in a month-long intensive program.

Music schools in Haiti don't reach the conservatory level, but American musicians often travel to there to help train music faculty. Ms. Williams believes that her visit to the United States and CIM will have strengthened her education on implementation of the conservatory system in her country and support the programs that are currently offered.

"I love the Eurythmics classes at CIM," she said after attending both preparatory and conservatory-level classes. "It is something I definitely wish to take back to Haiti," she said of the class that introduces the basic elements of music through movement and sound.

Holy Trinity Orchestra and Choir suffered complete destruction by the recent earthquakes in Haiti. Extensive fundraising efforts will be conducted to rebuild the school, but Ms. Williams and other faculty continue to lead lessons in the yard. At-risk children attend and within three weeks of musical training, are able to give a concert, Ms. Williams proudly said. "We use music to heal and to comfort them," she explained.

Before her arrival in Cleveland, Ms. Williams studied with Kennedy Center President Michael M. Kaiser and his senior staff to discuss fundraising, building more effective Boards of Trustees, budgeting, marketing and other areas pertinent to maintaining a vital performing arts organization. The international fellows met with other D.C. arts institutions including Woolly Mammoth Theater Company, Signature Theatre, Step Afrika!, and organizers of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.