Inside the Lane Independent Living Alliance peer center, a framed poster hangs on a wall with a quote from former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt that reads: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

Its meaning is on full display twice a month during the UO academic year as two Clark Honors College sophomores – Micah Primack and Jake Shim – lead a group from the university called We the Ensemble, a club that advocates for teaching music to people with disabilities in the Eugene area.

The peer center in downtown Eugene is their classroom. On a recent visit, one side of a community room is filled with comfortable furniture and art as Primack patiently guides a group of ukulele players through their finger movements.

Nearby, Shim encourages a student who plays a song unaccompanied on the piano. When the song ends, the room erupts in applause.

Primack and Shim have guided the club since last year, helping people who haven’t been able to access music education in their lives. Shim serves as the group’s president, while Primack is vice president. 

“I’ve had certain privileges in my life, having been able to participate in musical activities even when I didn’t have a lot of money,” says Shim, a global studies major who describes himself as a first-generation, low-income student. “I want to share that knowledge with others who didn’t have the same opportunities. I want to see them be really passionate about something. I want to teach them that there’s always something to look forward to in life and for me that’s music.”

A Stamps Scholar, Primack is majoring in psychology and wants to pursue a career in music therapy because he believes in the healing power of song. People with disabilities face a variety of institutional barriers and the ensemble club helps lessen those hurdles, he says.

Music lessons can be expensive, and not too many people with modest incomes can afford it. “There’ve been a lot of studies and research done about how we can use music to help engage people with their emotions and feelings,” he says. “Music is an extremely powerful tool. Communities that have been underrepresented are not reaping (some of the) benefits of music education.” 

Music as a tool

During his first term in college, Shim couldn’t wait to turn his idea for a club into a reality, but he knew that to help a community he needed to build one of his own first. He and Primack worked together with others to form the group.

Members of We the Ensemble volunteer their time every other week at the peer center and serve people with physical, mental, cognitive and sensory disabilities from across Lane County.

They plan lessons on music theory and provide instruments so community members can practice. With music as the tool, the group’s mission aligns with the alliance’s goal of providing a safe space that leads to personal growth. 

Scott Lemons, the alliance’s program coordinator and peer support specialist, says organizations like We the Ensemble encourage people with disabilities to participate in their own communities.

“People with disabilities can feel really isolated and like the community does not care about them in so many ways,” Lemons says. “To have the students work with our members and to always have smiles on their faces makes them feel like the greater community of Eugene really cares about them. (We The Ensemble) has given them a lot of inspiration to get out there more.”

Shim’s musical journey began the first time he touched the piano at age 6. Growing up in South Korea, piano is something that’s considered obligatory for kids to play by many families, he says.

At 10, Shim’s mother packed up the family and emigrated to America in pursuit of “a new kind of life beyond the borders of what we knew,” he recalls. Without much family to depend on in the U.S., Shim focused on the piano and participated in competitive figure skating.  

He quit piano in middle school because he felt confined and went on to play the oboe. He continued to play the piano on his own, a move that he says helped him develop a better connection to music.

Primack learned from his father how to play growing up in his home state of Arkansas. His dad composed music and played several instruments, which led to Primack picking up the guitar when he was 9. He learned music theory and composition, and taught himself other instruments.

His parents split up before he arrived at UO, which took a toll on his mental health. But he was able to recover, he says, by listening to compassionate lyrics and playing in a band. The experience helped him process his emotions during the difficult time. 

At the peer center, he encourages the students to play in a group rather than teaching them one-on-one. “One of our goals for the club is to get people to play together,” Primack says. “It’s vital that you know who and what you’re playing for. I’m really looking forward to getting everyone on the same level where they have the ability to mesh together.”

During ensemble rehearsals, Shim says the team wants the students to make their own decisions about music.

“We never want to set any limitations for them to learn something and we don't want to set any barriers,” he says. “Teaching music is not an easy job because (students) need to be able to convey something through music. It’s vital to have an ‘I am going to improve’ mindset, so we encourage them to not give up, to keep going and that they’re almost there.”  

Celebrating growth together

Charlotte Curtis recently learned how to play a song on the piano, choosing the theme from the movie "Star Wars" because she is a fan. Curtis says she took a community college piano course but ended up failing it twice. Learning how to play the piano with Shim and Primack has helped her overcome personal barriers.

“My favorite part about (the ensemble) has been meeting them and having them help me understand certain things in music that I’ve never known,” she says. “With my learning disability, it's really hard for me to understand certain things, and I can’t read sheet music. Here, they bring me sheet music with chords that I can actually play instead of having me figure out everything by myself.”

Curtis bought her own piano and has spent time practicing, working with peers at the alliance and organizing times to play together.

Lemons says he has seen a change in Curtis. “She saw that she was capable of not only playing instruments but also helping people and is now much more participatory and supportive,” he says. 

Both Shim and Primack are involved in other activities. Shim is a resident assistant, a board member for the UO‘s figure skating club and sits on the university’s chapter of the National Association for Music Education. Primack plays guitar and sings vocals in a band, and works as design editor for a campus literary magazine.

They both want to see the ensemble grow and say recruiting more student teachers is a priority. By the end of the current school year, they plan to have the ensemble perform a piece in a showcase as a symbol of student growth.  

“When it comes to music, hearing them progress gets emotional at times,” Shim says. “It’s not just about wanting them to improve, it’s also about going through this process together. The songs they’re learning may require a lot of patience from both ends, but the end result is because of the time that we’ve spent together.” 

KEEP READING THE CHC POST