“Watching them learn something I love so much, it just opens and melts my heart, and makes me love them so much.”
OUR MISSION
To ignite personal and community leadership through accessible, youth-centered music education.
photo credit: Josh Carter
For our students especially, many of whom hail from all over the world, the universal language of music can be a lifeline. We aim to cultivate a positive space that supports our students’ development into curious, confident, committed individuals who make a difference in their new home: exemplary musicians who are also exemplary citizens. Through our intensive and thoughtful programming both in the classroom and on stage, we seek to transform our audiences, neighborhoods, and the Western New York community, offering a sense of belonging to new Americans and those who have long called Buffalo home.
OUR STORY
The inspiration for Buffalo String Works occurred after a concert in March 2014 at P.S. 45 International School, an elementary school on Buffalo’s West Side. Elise Alaimo, the music teacher at the school and BSW co-founder, received funding to engage a group of musicians, which included co-founders, Yuki Numata Resnick and Virginia Barron, to play for her students. What transpired that day was very special indeed!
After playing a movement of Johannes Brahms’s Piano Quartet in C Minor, the students were asked what the music meant to them. A little boy peered out from underneath the desk where he was hiding and said, “I think it means, ‘I love you so much’.” He was right on, intuitively understanding so well what the music was communicating. The students overwhelmed us with their attention and focus; crowding around afterwards, asking questions, wanting to try the instruments, asking “When can we play?!”
“When, indeed?” we asked ourselves. It was in answer to this question that Buffalo String Works was born.
Buffalo String Works opened its doors in September 2014. We offered violin lessons to 17 students and had a volunteer staff of 4 teachers and 3 teaching assistants. In ten short years, we've grown significantly; we now offer lessons in violin, viola, cello, and bass to 160 students at our own site on Niagara St. in Buffalo and two school-based sites at Charter School of Inquiry and NativityMiguel Middle School. Our dreams are to continue expanding and growing our BSW community!
“I love seeing the progress beginner cellists can make in a year and the moment they realize a piece that used to be so hard is so easy!”
Yuki Numata Resnick, Co-Founder
Yuki Numata Resnick is a violinist, nonprofit leader, educator and professional problem-solver. She is passionate about her newfound home, Buffalo, NY, and ensuring that all youth in Buffalo have equitable access to music education.
Born in Vancouver, Canada, Yuki holds violin performance degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the University of Michigan. She has also received a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University.
As a violinist, Yuki has performed on stages from the Sydney Opera House to Carnegie Hall and is a passionate advocate for new music. A versatile musician, Yuki has also played with and recorded for bands such as The National, Beirut, Local Natives, Lisa Hannigan, and Aracade Fire. Most recently, Yuki has recorded for Taylor Swift and can be heard on Swift’s Folklore, Evermore, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s version).
Virginia Barron, Co-Founder
For the past 35 years, Virginia has taught violin and viola to students of all ages and abilities. A native of Toronto, Virginia received her training at the University of Toronto and the Manhattan School of Music. An experienced orchestral player, Virginia has performed with the Chicago Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Lyric Opera Orchestra, and the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra. She has been a regular substitute player with the Chicago Symphony for 23 years, and has gone on six international tours with the orchestra, playing under such conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Bernard Haitink and Riccardo Muti.
Virginia has served the Colorado College Summer Music Festival for the past 25 years as performer, teacher and Associate Director. She has taught viola, violin and chamber music at the University of Western Ontario, the University of Toronto and Roosevelt University in Chicago. In addition to her work at Buffalo String Works, Virginia can be heard frequently as a program host on Buffalo’s classical music radio station, 94.5 WNED. When not playing or teaching, she is an aspiring dressage rider (on her draft-cross horse Harvey), gardener and cook.
Elise Alaimo, Co-Founder
Elise Alaimo specializes in putting instruments into the hands of children and seeing the happiness in their faces! In addition to teaching students of all ages, she leads workshops for teachers in the arts, and has created several arts enrichment organizations to fill needs for music in the community. Elise founded and directed Northern Lights Children's Multi-Arts Center and co-founded City Strings, a Buffalo youth string orchestra. In her teaching, she uses movement, puppetry, and storytelling to engage students' imaginations and provide a context for songs and musical concepts. She continues her lifelong study of music actively, having completed more than 200 hours in Dalcroze Eurhythmics and Music Learning Theory. Elise most recently completed two piano courses at Juilliard and has maintained a private piano studio for more than 30 years. Permanently certified by the State of New York (Music, K-12), she received a BFA degree in Piano Performance and a Master’s degree in Music Education from the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. Elise served two years as co-director of Buffalo String Works after co-founding the program with Ginny and Yuki. She currently teaches Music at Buffalo Public School #84, Health Care Center for Children at Erie County Medical Center.