PORTLAND, Ore. — Aaron Meyer, known locally as Portland's "concert rock violinist," is raising money so he can teach more kids around the world how to play.
Meyer's nonprofit, The Aaron Meyer School of Music, provides private lessons to students at little to no cost, covered by donations. Meyer has been helping young musicians in Portland for several years, and a trip to Myanmar inspired him to expand his teaching overseas.
Before the pandemic, Meyer would travel to Asia and teach the students in person. Recently, he's been teaching three students in Myanmar over Zoom.
"I teach them every week—my Friday afternoon, their Saturday morning," said Meyer. "We have this great little program going and they take it very seriously. They look forward to it. It's brought them a lot of hope during this challenging time."
Meyer hopes donations will allow him to expand his class to 20 students. He's looking for financial support as well as donated instruments.
"If they are in bad shape and need some repairs, we can get them fixed," said Meyer. "We've got people who gave us guitars and violins. We got them out and found a home for them."
Meyer's music lessons go beyond the violin. He works with other musicians who can teach kids on a variety of instruments.
"The more we can get kids off their phones and off their video games, and playing the violin or the guitar and learning about music, I think that's great," said Meyer.
People interested in donating can support the Aaron Meyer School of Music here.