In 2019, CSMA was honored to sit down with Natalie Werbner, one of the co-founders of CSMA, for a fascinating discussion about the origins of the school and its mission to provide “Arts for All. She revealed a surprising connection to the progressive social justice movement of the early 20th century and to the resettlement of refugees fleeing persecution during World War II. Here are highlights from that conversation (edited for clarity).
HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN FOUNDING A SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND ART?
When I was 11 and living in Boston, I read a book by Jane Addams that fascinated me. (Addams, known as the “mother of social work,” was the co-founder of Chicago’s Hull House, one of America’s most famous settlement houses. In 1931, she became the first American woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to end war.) At that age, I wanted to take music lessons, but it wasn’t in the family budget. So my mother took me to the South End Music School in Boston, which was connected to one of the settlement houses and provided many services for immigrant children.
At first I was snobbish and wasn’t sure I wanted to go to a community school for music lessons. But it was so welcoming and there was such an excitement, with music playing upstairs and downstairs, that there was something very special about it. I was emotionally drawn into that atmosphere. As I got older, I understood that these settlement house schools had the best teachers possible, but everyone could have access whether they were rich or poor. I thought that there should be schools like this all over the country.
WHEN DID YOU START TO TAKE STEPS TOWARD MAKING THAT VISION A REALITY?
After getting a degree in music from Boston University, I moved to Palo Alto for a job as an art therapist and began looking for a place to start a school in this area. I had heard that Mountain View had a mix of people with high and low incomes, which was important to me.
The city of Mountain View at that time was buying houses as they came on the market and renting them at low cost. Along with co-founder Joan VanStone, I went through hearings and got community agreement to open a school in one of these houses. We used the backyard to hold classes run by volunteers. I think our rent was only $25, because we were doing something for the people. The city helped us in every way possible—because the city welcomed us, that’s why we are here.
Earlier I had met Herbert Zipper, who was an outstanding and inspiring man. I wrote to him about starting the school in 1966-67, and he encouraged me to “strike while the iron is hot,” and there was interest from the city. (Herbert Zipper was a renowned musician and arts activist. As an inmate at Dachau concentration camp in the late 1930’s, he arranged to have crude musical instruments constructed out of stolen material, and formed a small secret orchestra, which performed for the other inmates. Mr. Zipper’s life was the subject of the documentary film ‘‘Never Give Up.’‘)
Angela Owen was one of the first teachers. She and I became friends during the early 1950’s when we were working in The Window Shop, a restaurant founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts to help new immigrants who had escaped to the U.S. from Hitler’s reign in Europe. We were music students and needed to work to pay for our tuition and books. Angela studied musicology.
CSMA IS MUCH LARGER TODAY THAN WHEN YOU STARTED IN 1968 IN A SMALL HOUSE. HOW DO YOU SEE THESE CHANGES?
CSMA has come a long way. There have been, thankfully, welcome hands that have taken over the leadership, even when it was difficult at times. It’s astounding how much the organization has grown. It’s so important to pass the torch along. Someone that starts something doesn’t necessarily need to hold on to it. The fact that new people have come, and there’s so much growth is really exciting to me.
*(source: Dinitia Smith (April 23, 1997). “Herbert Zipper, 92, Founder Of Secret Orchestra at Dachau” The New York Times)
