About westernstrings

Our Work

In November 2022, Western Strings launched its first string music instruction classes for students in grades 3-6 on the Absaalooke (Crow) reservation in Lodge Grass, MT. 30 violins and 6 cellos were made available for use by 59 children. Over the course of the winter and spring of 2023 eight different teachers worked with the students during twice-weekly classes over 17 weeks of instruction in playing a string instrument. The group classes not only offered individual learning but also how to work as a group and ensemble-a team. This is the basis for many life long skills. Western Strings has now resumed the Lodge Grass program in September 2023. While we work to make the LG self-sustaining we are investigating the possibility of expanding to Pryor, also on the Absaalooke reservation. This first year’s program was made possible through grants from Montana Arts Council, Classics for Kids Foundation and the Tippet Rise Fund of the Sidney E. Frank Foundation. Support also came from a GoFundMe campaign that raised over $14,000 largely due to one very generous anonymous benefactor. With your help we will continue to enhance lives in the way that only music can.

About Us

About Western Strings

Western Strings provides cultural enrichment by helping children learn musical expression through the skill of playing string instruments. The opportunity to access artistic expression ranks high in the list of human needs.

Joe Jewett

Founder, President and Teacher Joe Jewett is an active soloist, conductor, chamber and orchestral musician and teacher.

As teacher, Joe has been committed to social justice work from the underfunded schools of Holyoke and Springfield MA to housing projects in Greenfield MA for a number of years. He feels the calling to bring the light of music to those who have not had this opportunity.

Susan Barnett

Currently the curator of the Whitney Western Art Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Barnett has broad experience as executive director, curator and collections manager. She also worked as a consultant specializing in exhibition curation, collections stewardship, nonprofit board development, marketing, and strategic planning.

An avocational cellist, Barnett served for six years as Principal Cellist in Butte, Montana, has played in symphonies and ensembles, and taught cello privately.

David Graber

Board member and collaborator David Graber has spent most of his career working as a music educator in Crow and Northern Cheyenne schools. He completed a project to record, transcribe and translate more than 100 hymns used by the Crow people in religious ceremonies.

Western Strings