Community Music School of Springfield

Founded in 1983, the Community Music School of Springfield (CMSS) is dedicated to making high quality music instruction, participation and exposure accessible and affordable to all people of greater Springfield. From harp to Hip Hop, CMSS provides music education for every age from babies to senior adults, with an emphasis on children.

The CMSS Renaissance Program – Jason Arnold & James "Scorpio" Andrews using Hip Hop to reach & teach.

Renaissance, a collaboration between the Community Music School of Springfield and the Western Massachusetts Area Department of Youth Services, teaches the musical and poetic elements of the hip hop culture so that court-involved and/or incarcerated male and female youth, ages 12 – 18, can use slam poetry, rap, the elements of beat production (drum rhythms, samples, bass lines), as creative outlets and a healthy means of self-expression.

Hip hop culture is central to the daily lives of these adolescents. By working with this familiar and extraordinarily powerful art form youth will be able to tap their creativity and develop the skills to express themselves in creative, artistic, productive, constructive, and non-violent ways. Through the process of creating music, slam poetry, and music videos, these young people will also bolster their self-esteem, learn to relate in a healthier way to their community, learn to work in a cooperative manner and as part of a team. Renaissance is designed to help the participants learn new ways to express their frustration and anger regarding issues such as racism, poverty, class, alienation, negative role models, and domestic and sexual violence, and find ways to nurture the loving and caring that exists within all youth.

Renaissance Faculty

James “Scorpio” Andrews, is responsible for guiding the emceeing and rapping portion of the Hip Hop Music Production Program. Scorpio is an accomplished teacher and veteran performer and hip hop artist, and has performed on many of the CD’s recorded by some of Springfield’s finest musicians. His powerful and effective approach to reaching youth through hip hop has helped take Renaissance to a new plateau. Scorpio specializes in helping young people master rhyming, performance techniques, mike control, phrasing, and telling a captivating story. Scorpio has been a member of the CMSS faculty for seven years. He opened Stinger Style Productions in 1998, and runs the Indies Music Service. In addition to his involvement in Renaissance, Scorpio has been an artist in residence in a variety of other CMSS community partnership programs such as the Holyoke Boys and Girls Clubs; Girls Inc.; the Holyoke Street School; Holyoke’s New England Adolescent Research Institute; Springfield’s Alternative High School the Bridge Academy; several of Springfield’s 21st Century After-School sites.

Jason Arnold, is responsible for training all youth involved in the Program to use the electronic and musical components of Renaissance. Jason has been teaching drums at CMSS for 5 years. In addition to his role in Renaissance and as a percussion teacher at CMSS, he tours with Blues artists including Phil Guy, Sonny Rhodes, and Lucky Peterson. In the winter of 2002, Jason joined forces with Scorpio and the Renaissance Program. Jason brings his musical background in helping young people create and record their own music. For Jason, Renaissance helps young people “focus on the positive, instead of the negative.” In the Spring of 2003, Jason and Scorpio were asked to be guest speakers at the Holyoke Street School’s graduation exercises during which they played the songs and read the poetry that the Street School’s students created in the classes they both co-taught. In addition to his involvement in Renaissance, Arnold has been an artist in residence in a variety of other CMSS community partnership programs such as Holyoke High School’s Connections Program; the Holyoke Boys and Girls Clubs; the Holyoke Street School; Holyoke’s New England Adolescent Research Institute; Springfield’s Alternative High School the Bridge Academy; several of Springfield’s 21st Century After-School sites; and Federal and State Housing Authority sites in Holyoke and Worcester.

Renaissance Experience

Renaissance has worked with residents at three facilities of the Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps (RFK) – the Boys’ Unit in Springfield, MA, and the Girls’ Unit in South Hadley, MA, and the Terri Thomas Assessment Center. Through their work with Unlocking the Light, they have done additional residencies at DYS facilities in Westfield, and Worcester Secure boys unit and Pelletier Assessment Center, and Terri Thomas. In the group sessions, the young people discuss and analyze hip hop culture from musical, artistic, and social perspectives, and at the same time create and produce their own hip hop culture compositions using drum machines, mixers, DAT recording equipment, digital video cameras, and editing equipment.

For more information on the Community Music School of Springfield please visit their web site.