Private lessons for students learning to play an instrument. Participating students are both taught and mentored by a professional musician as they acquire the discipline required to learn and play music, and express themselves creatively. Some 70 students receive private instruction each year, and each participates in a series of 10 lessons. Prospective students seeking private lessons are interviewed to assess their level of interest in and commitment to the program, as they must maintain a consistent work ethic and attendance to participate throughout the school year.

Large school-based workshops, designed to bring the highest quality professional performers into direct contact with students. Each musician demonstrates their talents while explaining the historical, geographical, and cultural significance of the music they play. Students attending workshops are also provided with take-home reference materials including outlines, maps, definitions, and further sources to which they can refer to continue their listening and learning. On average, 400-500 students participate in each large-scale workshop held, but a few each year draw as many as 800 students.

Small school-based workshops, designed for band and orchestra classes, focus on concepts of and approaches to improvisation. In these sessions, 30-60 students work with professional musicians and learn to turn the scales they already know into melodies and solos.

Workshops offered include:

Latin Music: Internationally known local super-groups La Tribu and Son y No Son, led by master bassist and music scholar Luis Guerra, combine forces to demonstrate different genres of Latin music, break down and explain their component rhythms, and touch on the geographical, historical, and cultural significance of each form.

American Jazz: Nationally known artists such as Eric Lewis and former UT professor Dr. Steven Snyder lead a "Jazz 101" course, breaking down the components of the jazz "standard," including swing beat, chord changes, melody and improvisation. The lead artist is joined by legendary Austin trumpet player Martin Banks, along with rhythm section Brannen Temple and Michael Stevens. Each player demonstrates his own approach to his instrument, and the group leads students through the historical evolution of jazz as it pertains to our culture and geography.

Although ten Austin-area campuses will be served this school year, Anthropos is experiencing a much greater demand for services than the organization is able to meet. Eight additional schools in Travis and surrounding counties are on the waiting list for Anthropos programming, representing funding needed for an additional 30-50 private lesson students and 16-20 workshops. With the dim financial plight of many central Texas school districts, referrals to Anthropos are only expected to grow.

According to the Texas Commission on the Arts, the state¡¦s current investment in the arts is only 18 cents per citizen, placing it last among the 50 states. Further, Texas expects to receive a 50-65 percent reduction in federal support for the arts in the next two years, ending grants for many non-profit K-12 arts programs that are currently taking up the slack in providing arts education and fostering creativity among Texas school children.

But the most serious issue is local cuts in arts funding to the schools themselves. As Texas cities and school boards struggle to balance their budgets in these tough economic times, many have made deep cuts into arts curriculum and activity budgets. Many Austin students are currently without the arts teachers and afterschool programs that they have come to depend on due to AISD budget cuts of $29 million for the current school year. Some 60 teachers were lost, primarily in art and music programs, and low-income schools were the hardest hit. Remaining music classes are happening as little as one day per week on some campuses.