I love teaching kids how to play cello. I want to teach others how to improve themselves and help them feel good about themselves and the instruments that they play. I want them to learn everything that I know and more.
Eight years ago, Luis first walked into an UpBeat class as a quiet, curious eight-year-old. His mom had signed him up for the cello without much explanation, and he didn’t know what to expect. “I remember the first day. My mom, my little sister, and I went to this back room, and that’s where my first teacher, Aaron, talked about the cello: what it is, music theory, the parts of the instrument.”
Luis worked his way from “Hot Cross Buns” to “The Nutcracker,” and way beyond. At 16, he is a skilled, confident cellist and a model for his younger peers (including his cousins!). Now in his second year of the carpentry program at Bronx Design & Construction Academy, Luis is at UpBeat almost every day – whether for his own ensembles, to help our staff or just to practice on his own.
This past summer, through an initiative of the Pinkerton Foundation, Luis and four other UpBeat students travelled to the renowned Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan to attend their intensive music camp for six weeks. There, he was able to practice, perform, and build friendships with other cello students from around the world. He credits his time at Interlochen with helping him level up his discipline and focus. Luis also participates in both of our paid internship programs for older students: learning the craft of string instrument repair and teaching lessons to a younger UpBeat cellist.