Meet Rosalind-Denise Rogers #JuneteenthMe

A Kansas City Kansas native, Rosalind-Denise is a mother, musician, educator, and the Founder, and Executive Director of The Inner Ear Foundation, an urban youth orchestra currently based out of East St. Louis IL. In 2017, Rosalind accepted her job as Music Teacher at East St. Louis – Lincoln Middle School. There she created and facilitated an after-school music program teaching the violin, viola, and cello. Since her arrival, she has secured several community partnerships aiding in her mission to provide at-risk youth with quality string education experiences. With those partnerships, Rosalind can gift a student with an instrument through an essay contest. In 2018 Rosalind pioneered East St Louis’ first school orchestra program in nearly 40 years. Her youth orchestra, The Inner Ear is committed to providing at-risk youth with quality music education. She has fostered several String programs in the Kansas City Kansas community serving to date over 300 youth. She uses instruments that she has purchased herself to teach strings classes to youth as young as 3 years old. She hopes to use music to change the community around her and through music education, unify and build up her community.Rosalind-Denise holds a degree in Music Education from VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, IL. There she studied under renowned violist, Michael Hall and Cellist David Eccles. She desires to use her passion for the arts to build a career in teaching Middle and High School Orchestra, ensuring that all students have access to music education regardless of their economic condition.