Music Matters Global: Next stop Paupa New Guinea!

WHEN DID YOU FIRST HEAR A TROMBONE SLIDE

2024 Projects: The MMG Brass Quartet has been invited again to work with students and music programs in Papua New Guinea and Australia, and we need your help to get there!

MUSIC MATTERS GLOBAL was created as a mobile chamber music unit, to take quality classical music concerts, lectures, and masterclasses anywhere to anyone. Partnering with existing music schools, programs, and teachers in developing countries, the Music Matters Brass Quartet creates exciting programs that teach about composers, eras of music, as we demonstrate what each instrument can do. The members of Music Matters Global have taught lessons and masterclasses working with students in Australia, the Pacific Islands, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia, and across the United States. We hope to spread our love of music and the arts through quality concerts, and music education - even to the remotest places.

Answers to Common Questions: What are some things you look for in a new location? Thriving music programs in poorer areas that want us to come in, the safety of the region, a non-warring culture, stable government, strong organizations on the ground to partner with that can provide translators, housing, welcoming and engaged hosts.

How much does a project to a developing country cost? It is about $20,000 USD for the quartet to work for 3-4 weeks in a developing country

How can I give to future projects of MMG? DONATE HERE! 

For more information on Music Matters Global, go to www.bethmitchelltubastudio.com, click on the link for Music Matters Global



What is it like to travel with Music Matters Global? Here is an excerpt from our PNG/Australia 2019 Tour journal

On a hot July day in Los Angeles, four musicians boarded a plane bound for the South Pacific. We were not sure what to expect but we knew were in for a life changing adventure. As we got off the plane on the other side of the world, our group recovered from jetlag in Australia by jumping into an intense teaching schedule in Brisbane of coaching chamber groups, and concerts. Music Matters Global was officially launched

In Papua New Guinea, the group traveled from Port Moresby small planes to places in the bush, to little villages, and bigger towns, landing on nearly invisible grass landing strips on the sides of jungled mountains. We used 4WD vehicles to traverse mountainous muddy terrain and drive the unpaved bone-jarring roads. Upon arrival, Music Matters Global was immediately catapulted into a busy schedule of countless concerts and teaching. We played concerts at schools, funerals and hospitals, enlisted the help of local musicians for community concerts, and raised the spirits of men at a high security prison concert. The four of us taught countless lessons, conducted rehearsals, led sectionals, repaired instruments, taught masterclasses, encouraged communities, helped music teachers fundraise for instruments, and more.

Kindest regards,

Music Matters Global, and Beth Mitchell

Beth Mitchell

Founder of Music Matters GLOBAL

MORE INFO:

WHAT IS MUSIC MATTERS GLOBAL? Music Matters Global was founded by tuba player Beth Mitchell and uses chamber music groups to partner with existing music programs. Our goal is to bring engaging music masterclasses, concerts, and quality instruction to struggling communities and low-income areas locally, nationally, and internationally.

The HISTORY OF MUSIC MATTERS GLOBAL

Tired of waiting for the phone to ring, Beth Mitchell began organizing her own professional recitals and chamber music concerts around Los Angeles in 2003. Finding an untapped niche in the market, she used her connections to book herself around the United States, and by 2011 was performing concerts, recitals, teaching masterclasses, and lecturing around the world

Desiring to push this idea further,she createdMUSIC MATTERS GLOBAL in 2017 as an organization that could connect professional musicians with existing music programs in poorer areas worldwide. Music Matters Global has worked with musicians and schools around the world providing teaching and concerts in parts of Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and most recently Australia and the South Pacific.The Music Matters Global Brass Quartetwas developed specifically as a mobile chamber music unit and is dedicated to taking professional concerts and musical instruction to impoverished areas across the United States and around the world.

For more information on Music Matters Global or to donate, visit our website at www.musicmattersglobal.org

COMMON QUESTIONS:

Why a quartet instead of a quintet?When MMG Brass was first imagined, it was imagined as a brass quintet. However, as much as we tried, MMG couldn’t get a second trumpet player to stick to the group. Running out of time, we decided that perhaps we were supposed to be a quartet. As we traveled around the south pacific in small planes on grass strips and in 4WD vehicles through mountainous jungle terrain, it soon became evident that if the group hadn’t been a quartet, transportation would not have worked out for the group. With weight limits for small planes, and seating in cramped vehicles with translators, and the cost involved with people and equipment worked much smoother with only four people.

ABOUT THE MUSICIANS

Trevor Johnson (trumpet) is a gifted senior trumpet performance major at Biola University, and is looking at grad schools. We are hoping he goes to the University of Southern California.

Chris Wilson (horn) is a talented studio musician in Hollywood, graduated from Indiana University and the University of Southern California. He is a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Symphony, and is currently gigging around Los Angeles taking the horn world by storm. 

Robert Seitz (trombone) is an active freelance performer in Los Angeles and Orange County. He is working on his masters degree at the University of Southern California.

Beth Mitchell (tuba) is an international solo recital artist for the Eastman Musical Instrument Company. She is an active freelancer in Los Angeles, a sub of the Disneyland Band and teaches at Biola University and Pasadena City College. She is working on a DMA at the University of Southern California.

For more information about Music Matters GLOBAL, you can check out our website at www.musicmattersglobal.org