In Ohio prisons, teachers and students build ‘sisterhood of music’

Once a week, about a dozen incarcerated women unpack their stringed instruments for a group music lesson at Cleveland’s Northeast Reintegration Center.

“I’m someone who’s always loved heavy metal, rock and roll,” said Pamela Marion, who now plays the viola. “Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be playing an instrument like this.”

Marion has been playing for two years with the help of Renovare, a small music ensemble and non-profit organization that provides instruments, instruction and scholarships.

“They treat you like a human being,” Marion said with a heavy laugh. “It helps. I don’t feel so lost.”

Renovare also teaches music classes at Grafton Correctional Institute in Lorain County. Regular lessons in prisons are part of the organization’s mission to share music with communities that would not normally have access.

“It’s just a joy to be a part of the musical communities that are forming as we’re there for more years and develop more of a community and a routine together,” said Rebecca Schasberger, founder and director of Renovare.

Participants in the prison programs have coped better with mental health issues, regained their “voice” and connected with family members who attend for performances, Shasberger said.

The benefits also apply to professional musicians.

“We’re not out to fix anybody. It would be foolish to think that we can,” Shasberger said. “More than that, we’re looking to learn from people. We are looking to walk with people.

While a student at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Shasberger realized she didn’t want to stay on the traditional performing path with her cello.

“I started to feel this tension within me as I continued on my musical journey because I was spending so much time in fancy concert halls and in places that felt very removed from most people’s everyday lives,” she said.

She now spends more of her time performing and teaching in shelters, prisons and rehabilitation centers with her fellow Renovare musician Lalia Mangione.

“I didn’t go to homeless shelters very often. I never went to jail,” Mangione said. “I think being a part of Renovare has really opened my eyes to how isolated we are.”

In addition to teaching and performing music with communities that don’t necessarily have access to music, Renovare musicians collaborate with people to help them write songs and share their stories.

“It’s a really powerful way to communicate a lot of different things in just one four-minute song,” she said. “And because it’s based on music, more people tend to listen because most people like music.”

At the women’s prison, Mangione said they mostly play classical music together, but sometimes there are requests for popular tunes and songs from movies, such as “Tale as Old as Time” from “Beauty and the Beast.”

Playing music is “very therapeutic,” said Danielle Walker, who has been studying cello for about four months through the program.

“It helps me build my day with energy,” she said. “It helps me build my day with positivity.”

The program also helped the women build confidence and relationships with each other.

“It’s a strong sisterhood that we build on music,” Walker said.