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When Paola Lustri enrolled her three children in xxxx��Ƶ’s Academy last year, through the Musical Pathway Fellowship program, she had no idea it would change their lives.  

She knew the program, designed for young Black and Latinx musicians, would be good for them. What she hadn't anticipated was how broadly beneficial it would be, how it would shape her children as people and even begin to direct their long-term ambitions.  

“I really wanted them to have an instrument as part of their curriculum,” explained Lustri, of Avon Lake, referring to her children Catalina, Nico, and Victoria.  

“I just didn’t know it would be this wonderful. We’ve found a wonderful community at xxxx��Ƶ. It’s not only music lessons. They’re learning lessons that go well beyond music.” 

First and foremost, they’re gaining access. Like all Musical Pathway Fellows, the Lustris – ages 7, 14, and 16, all of them pianists – are enrolled in the comprehensive Academy program at no cost to them, studying with xxxx��Ƶ’s Julia Russ.  

If it weren’t for that support, it’s likely the family wouldn’t be able to participate.  

“It’s been such a gift for us, truly a gift,” Lustri said. “I don’t know that we would be able to afford it, having three children.”  

This is music to the ears of Jennifer Call, Associate Dean of Preparatory and Public Programs. She and others organized MPF with the goal of driving diversity in classical music by removing obstacles to high-level training.   

The Musical Pathway Fellowship is supported by major funding from the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, The Cleveland Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, The Hershey Foundation, KeyBank Foundation, the David and Inez Myers Foundation and the WC & EJ Thornton Foundation. More information about the program can be found here.  

The Lustris are now three of 30 Musical Pathway Fellows in the Academy. When the program launched, in 2017, there were just two. With more funding, Call hopes to welcome even more students in the future.  

“We’re truly acknowledging the access problem,” Call said. “We’re doing a better job of welcoming students from different backgrounds and really moving the needle.”  

The impact on the Lustris is difficult to overstate. After less than two years in the program, the children have embraced the piano more openly than their mother ever could have hoped.  

All three gladly practice on their own, she said, including Catalina, the youngest. Victoria, meanwhile, the eldest, intends to continue studying music, and Nico is thinking of taking up percussion as well, in order to play in an orchestra. 

In addition to music, they’re mastering the arts of hard work, patience, and concentration, and making a lot of friends in the process.  

“They know how valuable this is for them,” Lustri said. “They’re learning skills that will help them not only in music but in all aspects of their lives.”  

Whether any of the Lustri children go on to enter a conservatory or pursue a career in music remains to be seen.  

For now, their paths are clear. Until they embark on the next phases of their lives, they’ll be at xxxx��Ƶ, studying in the Academy.  

“We will continue,” Lustri said. “xxxx��Ƶ that, there is no question in my mind.” 

The Musical Pathway Fellowship is supported by major funding from the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, The Cleveland Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, The Hershey Foundation, KeyBank Foundation, the David and Inez Myers Foundation and the WC & EJ Thornton Foundation. More information about the program can be found here.