Cramped Quarters Bursting With Young People Eager to Make Music

Several electric guitars and three incomplete drum sets litter the back portion of a cramped music studio at a South-Central Los Angeles youth center.

Shortly after school lets out, dozens of children stream into City Music LA, a contemporary music school inside A Place Called Home. Aspiring musicians bang on drums, strum on one of the Gibson guitars or record themselves rapping just like Outkast or Wu-Tang Clan.

One of the more gifted youngsters, an 11-year-old drummer, waits outside. There’s no room for him on this day, and he’ll have to come back later for a lesson.

Like every department in A Place Called Home, the music studio is ripping at the seams trying to accommodate as many children as possible. The music school is just a year old, but with the collaboration of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, it has grown beyond anyone’s expectation, said Catherine Goldwyn, music director.

“One of the great things about this program is that these young people learn that there are many ways to make music your life’s work,” said Goldwyn, who has spent 30 years in the music industry as a sound designer, composer and jazz pianist. “These kids have powerful potential, but many don’t realize it’s not necessarily all about becoming a star.”

Goldwyn was hired as the center’s music director a year ago and promptly persuaded Berklee, her alma mater, to help start the music studio. In Boston, the college was already operating a similar program, offering urban secondary school students free musical training after school and on weekends.

It’s not just about cutting a demo tape at the studio. Every student who joins City Music LA is required to get instruction on four instruments and on all the audio equipment in return for free studio recording time.

Berklee provides full scholarships to the college for up to four students from City Music LA. That was the incentive for Wallace Molina and Rudy Castellan to reenroll in high school. They plan to get their diplomas so they can apply for the Berklee scholarships.

Nick Santos and Kyle Fisher will be attending Berklee in the fall after receiving full scholarships from the college.

Another student, Rubois Banks, known by his stage name of Black Niff, recently signed a publishing contract with Windswept Pacific Entertainment but has yet to start recording, Goldwyn said.

The 11-year-old drummer, Mark Williams, said he uses the facilities as an escape from troubles at school. He has left two schools because of discipline problems, but said he is now maintaining a B average at his new school. It was a simple remedy: His mom will not let him play the drums if his grades drop.

“I like banging on stuff and making noise,” said Mark, who moved to South-Central from Belize three years ago. “It just calms me down.”

More and more students are crowding into the tiny studio, and space is running out.

“We try to get all the children in here so they can learn all the elements of music,” said Mark Abernathy, a music instructor who also graduated from Berklee. “We put out a waiting list, and it’s beginning to look like a phone book.”

Because of the cramped facilities, counselors have started sharing offices, some of which are nothing more than a closet with a desk, phone and perhaps a computer.

The center serves 4,800 young people and is growing by an average of 120 each month, said Debrah Constance, founder and president.

A Place Called Home, on Central Avenue near 29th Street, serves young people between ages 9 and 20. Some come to play video games or make up credits so they can graduate from high school. Others take yoga or play with the mixers and microphones.

Recently, center officials purchased a $1.2-million plot of land across the street where they plan to build a 43,000-square-foot facility to help with the overcrowding. The center is raising funds for construction, but since Sept. 11 contributions to the nonprofit facility have slowed considerably, Constance said.

A Place Called Home began with a dozen children at a South-Central church in 1993 and moved to its current 10,000-square-foot facility in 1998.

The Los Angeles Times is highlighting local programs that serve youths and families in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties as part of its holiday campaign to help raise money for worthy causes.

The campaign is part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund, which includes the long-running summer camp program. The campaign was established last year after The Times was acquired by Tribune Co. The McCormick Tribune Foundation will match the first $500,000 in donations at 50 cents on the dollar, and The Times will absorb all administrative costs.

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