How after-school viola lessons kept this at-risk student in school

Lillian Blanco wasn’t on a path to graduate high school. No one in her family ever had. But that all changed in second grade when she picked up a viola.

She didn’t know it yet, but the course of her life changed at that moment. It was there in one of CAP’s free after-school programs at her elementary school that paths began to open for Lillian. 

On April 4, 2025 Lillian performed with the CAP String Orchestra and spoke about the impact arts education has had on her life at the 20th annual Spring for the Arts. This signature event celebrates the impact our donors have had on students like Lillian and raises funds to put more instruments (and paintbrushes, scripts, ballet shoes and more) in the hands of more children in Northeast Florida.

Tell us about how you got started playing the viola.

I started playing the viola in second grade. CAP was my favorite part of the week. It was after school [at Hogan-Spring Glen Elementary] and my teacher was Mr. Stone. I remember being really intimidated, but it was really fun. As we got better and as the years went by, we became something of an orchestra group. It was really nice to watch each other grow.

I would go home after school and listen to orchestra music and I would study my notes and I would come to class and I would be so excited. I think it definitely started out as a hobby but as it progressed, as my technique improved, and as I moved up in orchestras, I realized that it became a part of me. That experience is something I still hold on to.

I honestly don’t think that without picking up an instrument, I would be the same person I am today. It really did shape me. I wouldn’t be where I’m at.

What drew you to the viola?

When you pick an instrument, it’s not random. I think that people are drawn more to one than the other. People who choose the bass, they definitely look at the violin and think, “That’s not for me.” Violinists are ambitious and open to a challenge. They do all of these hard runs up the violin.

I was drawn to the viola mostly because it’s warmer and has a little more timbre, compared to a violin. It has melodies, you know? The viola is warm and deep and I just felt drawn to it because it was more like a voice to me than an instrument. Violists, we’re more of the backbone. Without violas, the violins are just screeching melodies. We’re the harmony. Cellos are very similar. They’re warm and nice—beautiful sounds. And bass, they’re our steady heartbeat of the orchestra, calm and more levelheaded, I would say.

Lillian (second from right) performs with the CAPSO Small Ensemble in 2023 | Photo by Sindy Gonzalez

What CAP program were you in, and how did that experience influence you?

After being in CAP at Hogan, I joined the CAP String Orchestra and then I followed orchestra to UNF where I’m currently a sophomore. I’m working at the Mayo Clinic in a research internship. I’m also taking private lessons with the violist from Jacksonville Symphony, Darryl Manley.

Without CAP, I think I would have just followed everybody else, you know, to the nearest middle school that I was zoned for. I honestly don’t think that I would be the same person I am today. If I think about who that other person would be, I don’t think she would have gone to college, honestly. I don’t think she would have graduated high school because of just how everybody else around me was kind of that way. I was the first high school graduate of my entire family, which is kind of crazy, and I’m the first generation college student. So I think that had I not been around people and around teachers that motivated me to just continue pushing and continue pursuing, I don’t think I would have made it through all that.

What’s next for you?

I’m thinking of majoring in music education. I’m thinking of being an orchestra teacher so I can do what Mr. Stone did: bring all these kids together who had never seen an instrument in their life and teach them how to make music, because of how much it helped me and how much I know it can help somebody else.

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