Many mothers make up the heart and soul of NCMC, including Capella Sherwood. Leading up to our little interview, I’d had one of those “off” mornings, and wasn’t feeling as sharp as usual, but Capella reassured me with her inquisitive eyes, generous spirit, and Paddington-yellow coat! The office brightened when she entered, and as we stepped into room 102 to chat, she immediately identified a tiny stool that her (then 5 year-old) son, Desmond (now 13), used when she enrolled him in NCMC’s Suzuki cello program in 2017. “Everything here has a story,” she remarks.

Capella’s story began on Vancouver Island, just north of Seattle. As a teenager, she attended summer chamber programs led by quartets such as Purcell and Lafayette. With these formative experiences under her belt, she was accepted into Canada’s McGill University for her B.M., and then the New England Conservatory, where she earned her M.M. in Viola Performance. Capella wears her stripes humbly, as our beloved faculty tend to. She migrated here from Ireland in 2017, where she’d taught Suzuki violin and viola and attended Music Together® classes with her three sons while her husband was in school. “In Ireland,” Capella exalted, “music is sought after, y’know? The way sports are here. Parents will put their kids on waiting lists for private lessons before they’re even born!” You’d think coming to the States after such an experience would disappoint in that regard, but Capella has found a true second home here at NCMC. A beneficiary of international music programs, her family fit right into our Suzuki and Music Together® classes, and she joined our faculty in March of 2018.

When it comes to a teaching philosophy, Capella’s is one of endlessly unfurling curiosity, one of nurturing. What’s the fun of practice if you don’t get to play? Suzuki students especially benefit from Capella’s approach; she’s not afraid to go off-book. While the Suzuki program provides structure and community, Capella delights in her students’ unique creativity, because that’s what keeps the structure fresh, and the community engaged. Her perspective brings to mind a greenhouse, where each pot is nurtured according to the needs of the particular specimen. By customizing the fertilizer from pot to pot, every one gets the nutrients they need to blossom.

This summer, Capella is leading the Youth Summer Chamber Music program alongside Christina Choi, and she’s looking forward to what surprises the program will yield. Each unique chamber ensemble of 5-12th grade students gains invaluable experience playing together, and they inevitably invent little theatrics that showcase the personality and creativity of the ensemble. With Capella’s encouragement, these theatrics weave their way into the recital at the end of the week-long program. In years past, recitals have featured skits involving Scarfbear (pictured below), references to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and performances of theme songs from Pokémon and Spiderpig (with a student vocalist, because how else would the audience differentiate it from the Spiderman theme song?)! These forays emerge from the ensembles organically, a sure sign that the kids are having fun playing together.

A mother of three young musicians, Capella is inextricably dedicated to infusing our public schools with musical expression. Outside of her tutelage at NCMC, she’s going the extra mile to bring music to the kids, and bring the kids to the music! Capella is at the helm of a field trip for all the fourth graders of the Northampton Public Schools, bringing them to the Springfield Symphony for “The Orchestra Moves,” a national educational program by Carnegie Hall’s LinkUp program. Securing funding for the endeavor meant applying for multiple grants, and Capella succeeded with support from Northampton Education Foundation. In addition, Capella has begun a volunteer string band for a local elementary school, playing once a week during the lunch period, and though they’ve only been playing for a few weeks, students have already graduated from recognizing the music as “like a song from Bluey” to asking, “can I bring my violin and play with you next time?”

Capella’s eyes light up as she recounts; simply by exposing the kids to instrumental music, she’s shifting their relationship with the music from distant cultural references to embodied, personal experiences.

Equipped with an irreparable violin, a cello bow, and the legendary stool, Capella humored me with a totally impractical, playful photoshoot!