Gabrielle Whitfield

Artistic Director of HMCC Orchestra

When Arts on the Edge approached me in 2004 to conduct the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center Women’s String Orchestra, I accepted the position without question.  Being asked to conduct a string orchestra comprised entirely of female prison inmates was the most unique musical offer I had ever received.  I would have been a fool to pass it up.  I remember my first rehearsal with them well:  mixed feelings of nervousness and excitement.  At the time, I was only in my mid-twenties and hadn’t been teaching long.  I was worried about earning their acceptance.  Many of the women were at least twice my age, and some had been in prison since I was in elementary school.  They came with a set of unimaginable life experiences.  I, on the other hand, didn’t have an ounce of street credit.  I grew up in Anchorage and came from a completely ordinary, middle-class background.  How could they relate to someone like me?

Luckily, when it came to music, our commonalities far outweighed our differences.  Once notes and rhythms became the focus, our dissimilarities began to fade away.  They went through the same trials and tribulations of any beginning orchestra:  posture, squeaking, playing out of tune, and that illusive technique of vibrato.  Stringed instruments are notoriously difficult and temperamental.  Luckily, the ladies never take themselves too seriously, and always approach orchestra class with an admirable sense of humor.  Laughter is what I enjoy most about our Saturday rehearsals.  For two hours a week, the prison walls fade away:  it just feels like music class.  I remember one time several years ago, a Hiland bass player remarked to me, “this is the only fun thing I’ve ever done that wasn’t illegal.  Playing the bass has changed my life for the better.”

As their musicianship has continued to improve over the past six years, so has their sense of self worth.  When living in prison, it’s easy to lose one’s sense of identity.  Prisoners live regimented lifestyles, and have very little control over most aspects of their lives.  Playing a musical instrument gives them a new sense of identity and pride.  They are no longer just numbers in a correctional institution—they are musicians.

Thank you for your overwhelming support of the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center Women’s String Orchestra during the past six years.  If it were not for the support of local Anchorage musicians and community members, this would not exist.  In the words of cellist Yo Yo Ma, “I hope we shall never stop.”