The Becker Family Foundation Brings Music and More to Chapin
Teach the Children Well
As a young child who struggled academically, music became my savior. I began singing and reading music, and by the time I was eight years old, math class had mysteriously become much, much easier. I benefitted from music in so many ways. Music and learning to play a musical instrument teaches children so much more than just listening to music. It increases memory, teaches perseverance and creates a sense of achievement. It improves coordination, math skills, reading and comprehension. It improves listening and social skills; creates responsibility, exposes students to culture and history, and it nurtures self-expression. That’s why what the Becker Family Foundation is doing is so important.
The Becker Family Foundation, based in Chapin, provides children from around the Midlands the opportunity to learn to play a stringed instrument. With donated, handcrafted, high-quality stringed instruments and free music lessons, the Becker family’s generosity allows local children to gain the benefits that learning to play music can afford.
Brother and sister, Marilyn and Paul Becker, conceived the foundation in 2018. With a 501(c)(3) application drafted by Dr. D. Ray Wade, and with David Schroer heading the founding Board of Directors, the foundation’s purpose is to expand awareness of and appreciation for stringed instruments. It provides services and funding for violin, viola, cello and bass stringed instrument education, research, performances, and artists, to benefit listeners and learners alike.
The Becker Family Foundation’s Instrument Loan Program allows young performing artists to benefit from the use of high-quality instruments that otherwise would not be available to them. The goal of the program is to unite both talented students and young professional performing artists with instruments of quality, encourage their growth as musicians, and enable them to communicate more effectively through music. Chapin resident and foundation founder, Marilyn Becker’s wish is to promote and raise money for the Becker Family Foundation in order for more children to experience this learning opportunity.
In 1995, Marilyn Becker attended a Christmas program in a Wisconsin church. “It featured a full orchestra; with the youth playing stringed instruments, the adults playing the winds and brass, and a choir with at least 150 members. There was also a grand piano and an organ. Lessons and instruments were provided by the church based on need,” Marilyn said. The Becker Shop, (still) based in Chicago, maintained most of the stringed instruments in the program. Marilyn had always wanted to try a similar program after she moved to Chapin because the Wisconsin one had such a wonderful impact on the children.
Marilyn’s love for music and her desire to see children flourish through the music of stringed instruments is clear. “I love stringed instruments. I love the sound of their music. I love seeing children’s faces when they play, and the spark in their eye when what they are playing sounds good,” Marilyn said. She is grateful that all three of her siblings and she have had the pleasure of working together on this project.
The Becker family has a long history of making stringed instruments. It began in Germany with Herman Macklett, the first to express a desire to become a luthier, a maker of stringed instruments such as violins. Macklett immigrated to the US, where he met Elizabeth Kahlert, whose brother was a violinmaker. Four generations later, Paul Becker and his sister Jennifer, carry on the family tradition of crafting and restoring stringed instruments.
Paul began making violins at the age of 14. Until that time, he wasn’t allowed in the shop with his father, Carl F. Becker, and grandfather, Carl G. Becker. Paul states, “I looked around and told my father and grandfather, ‘I should be in the shop,’ and the very next day, I had a place in the shop.” Paul worked with his father to craft his very first violin. Today, he continues his work with the foundation, creating, restoring and adjusting instruments. Paul is currently producing fine violins both personally and with the help of two luthiers, Tom Moyer and Jeremy Koons. Their instruments range in value from $15,000.00-$36,000.00.
Jennifer was always fascinated by the work that was done in her father’s shop, but there was a rule that no kids were allowed beyond the scrap box. When she turned ten, she announced that she wanted to make a violin. “What? No, you’re too young and a girl,” her father replied. Jenny took scraps out of the garbage to make a working violin. Her dad and grandfather were delighted.
Over the next twenty-five years, Jennifer developed her own business with the support of the family. After countless restorations breathing new life into broken instruments, she says, “Seeing the smiling faces of the people I have helped that is a reward on to itself.”
The oldest sibling, Carol (Becker) Henderson—like the rest of the family— has a lifelong love of music. As a pianist and singer who has been performing with and accompanying groups and soloist since her school days; and as a graduate of Westminster Choir College, Carol’s experience with raising funds and maintaining budgets for various non-profit organizations has benefited the Becker Family Foundation with the marketing materials and grant writing.
Today, meticulously handcrafted, beautiful looking and sounding instruments are placed in the hands of young children in order to make a difference in their lives. Children learn to play under the direction of Andrew Lynn, a music teacher in Lexington Richland School District 5. Andrew began teaching in District 5 in 2012. He taught part time at Crossroads Middle School and part time at Chapin High School. During that time, he started teaching the beginners at Crossroads Middle, where he honed his skills at teaching strings to students.
The children show the audience how they bring their instruments down onto the shoulder from above, in order to better hold the instrument parallel to the floor.
Andrew aspires to reach every child through individualized teaching methods. Knowing there are many ways to communicate similar ideas, and understanding that all children learn differently, Andrew
shows students how to hold/play by modeling on the instrument himself.
puts items on the chalkboard, so the students read them in written form.
creates games wherein students feel the correct motions when they are playing correctly.
correlates the movements and feelings with activities already familiar to children, thus giving them a point of reference.
takes the feeling out of context and relates it to something the students can emulate.
Learning to play a stringed instrument can be compared to learning to play golf: if a person learns a golf swing where every joint is not in its exact place, any misalignment will affect how and where the ball is hit. Andrew knows the importance of learning to hold the instruments correctly, to keep the angles precise, and to ensure the instruments are being cared for properly. He also strives to keep the children interested and engaged in what is often a challenging, multi-tasking feat, before a single note is even played.
“There are a lot of little things. When you do all of these little tiny things right, it adds up to being able to play the right way,” says Andrew. The instrument must be held a specific way. The bow must have the perfect amount of tautness and the correct amount of rosin. The angles of the body must line up with the instrument in a very specific way. Correct body posture is crucial, and each hand has a distinct position to maintain. The instrument must also be cared for and stored using a precise method...
Andrew begins teaching students to play the violin by isolating the left arm from the right arm. Regardless of a child’s dominant hand, the left hand is always out, and the right hand has the bow.
The most difficult challenge is all these facets cannot be thought about all at once. Students must learn something and repeat it until it is pure muscle memory. For a young child, this can pose quite a challenge. (And I believe for any teacher to successfully teach it, would be a challenge as well.) But as the program grows from infancy, already the rewards are being seen.
It’s not unusual for Paul Becker to drive 15 hours from Chicago to Chapin in order to bring instruments for the program. This past June, he drove to deliver instruments and to see the Becker Family Foundation’s very first concert at St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church. He was blown away by what Andrew Lynn was able to teach the children in just three months. The children beamed with pride as they modeled for the audience how to properly hold the bow and care for their instruments. They displayed how they bring their instruments down on to the shoulder from above, in order to better hold the instrument parallel to the floor. They held their hands out with fingers spread widely to show how the 5 fingers and 4 spaces between the fingers represent the 5 lines and 4 spaces of the musical staff. This reminder helps teach note recognition, the foundation of reading music.
The concert itself, most of which was played pizzicato (plucking the strings instead of bowing the strings) was heartwarming to experience. The great effort, time and care that Marilyn, Paul, and Andrew put into the Becker Foundation were finally being seen through the children’s music, enthusiasm and joy.
The image of a child practicing the violin for smiling parents who secretly wear earplugs is a stereotype for a reason. The quality of a stringed instrument very much affects the sound it produces. The children who performed at St. Francis this past June were playing on competition-winning, child-prodigy worthy instruments. These instruments can range dramatically in price and are valued between $1,200 and $5,000 each. The beautiful music produced at the concert, by the children who had been playing for a mere three months, was testament that yes, the quality of the instruments matters, even for beginners.
Today, Marilyn, Paul, Andrew and others continue to work together to ensure the program’s success. Marilyn is the primary organizer, coordinator and fundraiser. Paul–who was just elected President of the Foundation–and his siblings continue to create, adjust and deliver instruments, and Andrew continues teaching.
Currently, instruments in the Becker Family Foundation are loaned out on a first come, first served basis. Two different sessions of lessons will be starting this fall: a beginners and an advanced group. Both will be preparing for the next Becker Family Foundation Concert and fundraiser, which will be performed at Newberry Opera House on January 9, 2020. Stringing & Singing with Sonia Lee & Friends will be A Dufford Institute for Cultural Diversity Event in conjunction with the Becker Family Foundation, the Newberry Arts For All (NAFA) & Newberry College Department of Music School Performance.
Thanks to the fine instruction students receive from Andrew Lynn, and the fine quality of the instruments created and donated by the Becker Family Foundation, children can now have the opportunity to gain the many benefits of learning to play an instrument and to experience of the joy of self-expression through music. The children are blessed, and we are equally as blessed, to have this program in Chapin.
To learn more about the Becker Family Foundation instrument loan program or to donate, please visit beckerfamilyfoundation.com. To buy tickets for the January 2020 concert, visit newberryoperahouse.com.
The editor deeply thanks the entire Becker family and the many, many people who participated in the creation of this article. (It takes a village!)
Photographs by Jay Seward, David Johnson, and David Wythe.
