Passion for string music leads Loveland youth to start non-profit

LHS student Brodie Merz aims to teach and tutor young children in strings

By Chuck Gibson

LOVELAND, OH (May 24, 2020) — Brodie Merz just started a non-profit organization aimed at teaching and tutoring young children on string instruments. He’s 15 years old and will be a sophomore at Loveland High School next school year.  

Merz has been busy during the COVID-19 quarantine adjusting to remote learning to close out his freshman year at LHS. More than that, he’s been busy getting things in order to launch his non-profit organization to teach younger children string instruments for orchestra.

“It’s not a registered non-profit quite yet,” said Merz. “My aim is to get it registered as a 501C-3.”

This is the very beginning of a plan Merz has to make an impact on others. As he thought about things he might do, following a path to share his love for string music was an obvious choice.

“I was thinking of what I could do to make an impact,” Merz explained. “Something I really have a passion for is orchestra and strings. I have such a passion for doing this, I thought why not try to inspire others.”

He is trying to start simple tutoring some younger kids that might not normally have access to orchestra and strings. Merz bigger vision is to grow his organization to reach more communities.

“The big picture would be to grow this to the point where I could spread this to communities less privileged; to teach them about strings and to teach them the power of music,” he said.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was like a double-edged sword. 

The stay-at-home restrictions gave Brodie the time to reflect and develop the idea of teaching strings to younger children. At the same time, it presents the challenge of starting what are essentially music lessons while social-distancing – or teaching remotely.

“Right now I’m using Instagram, posting every day interesting string facts,” said Merz. “In my bio on Instagram, it tells what I’m trying to do. That’s just to get people into it.”

Outdoor Orchestra performance at Darling Harbour, Austrailia during tour there in 2019 (Provided)

Merz is working to set up more social media to help spread the word. Of course, he also reached out to share his story here on Loveland Beacon. In addition to playing strings at Loveland Schools since 5th grade, learning and playing in the Loveland orchestra under the tutelage of teacher Rachel Bierkan, he’s taken private lessons and continues to receive private lessons.  

“I have played in an out of school orchestra that toured Australia last year, Merz said. “I’ve played an opera house.”

Merz has tutored and helped younger students with the Loveland Middle School after-school program in the past. His personal favorites are from the classical genre of string music. He shared the story of something called the “Mozart Effect” where a person is given an IQ test, then listens to 15 minutes of Mozart music before being retested. The results consistently show higher scores after listening to Mozart, thus the ‘Mozart Effect’.  

“I really like the classical music,” said Merz. “I want to raise awareness about the beauty and power of strings and what effect it can have on you.”

Contact Brodie Merz via email at: strings4kidsedu@gmail.com