A universal language that people from every walk of life and corner of the world speaks is what two SFCC students are building a future with.
For Danny Cordero and Zawng Lum, music is a way of life. Both fell in love with the piano and have worked hard to reach where they are. Their talent, hard work and love of music has opened doors for them.
Cordero and Lum have both been awarded scholarships from Whitworth University.
Cordero’s goal is to study in the piano performance degree program with a minor in composition. Piano performance is the highest piano level one can study. He’s also considering pursuing piano pedagogy, which is geared to teaching and composition. Lum is focusing on a major in classical piano performance and a minor in jazz music.
Whitworth has always been Lum’s aspiration. He first heard about the school when students from Whitworth came to Myanmar to teach English.
The plans don’t end with Whitworth. Lum wants to return to Myanmar and teach music to college students. He sees it as a salvation from the turmoil that is prevalent in the country. Coming to the United States last year to study, Lum believes that without music, his life would look very different.
“I could be drug user, if I did not find my passion,“ he said.
Cordero also has experienced the serenity of music. Adopted at the age of 6, it became his place of peace. He hopes to transfer to University of Oregon to earn a masters degree in future music. It’s an interdisciplinary program that pairs music and psychology. His aim is to understand how music can be used to uplift society.
He currently plays at least once a quarter in the Spokane bus plaza. It’s part of a citywide initiative that runs on the idea that when live music is there, violent crimes and aggravation drop. Cordero has been thanked hundreds of times by those who enjoy his music.
Both have studied with Rosi Guerrero, a piano and music theory instructor at SFCC who is affectionately called Dr. G.
“She teaches me every day that you can achieve anything you set your mind to, and to work hard, be persistent and have a winners attitude in life. She is my hero and makes me stay positive throughout my journey here,” Lum said.
Both credit her with helping them get to where they are and where they will be in the future.
“She never allowed me to quit on myself,” Cordero said.
Guerrero is why Cordero chose to study at SFCC.
“It’s important when you’re a musician, you pick a professor, it’s someone that’s going to shape the sound you make,” Cordero said. “They’re shaping literally they way that you view music your passion that’s a massive amount of trust. A lot of people are like ‘Oh, it’s community college.’ They don’t see the value in this program.”
Guerrero had high praise for her students as well as encouragement for dreaming big.
“These two are exceptional,” she said. “They are great beings and can be even better by applying themselves. There’s never a small enough goal for you to reach and you can always reach beyond what you think is possible.”
Music is their way of life, but Lum and Cordero have favorite elements. When asked if he did, Lum’s response was “Oh yeah.” He loves classical composers like Beethoven and Chopin. Cordero’s preferences include contemporary composers who work in the classical vein, like Philip Glass and Rachmaninoff.
The musical journey is far from over for both Cordero and Lum.
“Music is like a different language that you need to understand to be able to communicate and so getting those words off the page and into the piano, into your hands that’s a whole process of translation that takes time,” Cordero said.
Essay by Danny Cordero
This isn’t a story of one student’s success; it’s the story of an entire community dedicated to student success and advocacy. It’s the story of David Larsen talking to his symphonic students until 10 PM about his favorite jazz artists, reminding us that even after we become professors we can still be passionate and nerdy about the things we love. It requires people like Dr. Krumbholz hand-writing marches while talking about post-tonal Scriabin well past his office hours. Success stories stem from Deans like Bonnie Brunt who invest time and interest in every student they come across. And of course, no SFCC Music success story would be complete without Dr. Rosi Guerrero’s influence. Dr. G is one of the most driven instructors that I’ve encountered, and one of the most adept at turning raw talent into disciplined musicianship. By choosing the Falls, I picked the absolute best possible educational route for myself. My success as a music student is an organic result of this incredible department and community.
Talent alone can start this journey, but discipline will finish it. When I first contacted Dr. G to apply as one of her private piano students, I was talented. I knew how to noodle my way through all kinds of songs by ear, and I already worked in the field as a Music Director for a church. Chords were no problem, and I was adept at electronic composition and production. But when it came to discipline, I had no daily schedule. I had no tangible goals. I let inspiration wash over me and guide me, but like a wave on a beach, I was tossed between inspiration and dry land. I didn’t know how to read music well. I definitely was not skilled in sight reading. And I hadn’t studied classical piano since, well, ever. It would’ve been easy for Dr. G to say I wasn’t qualified to be one of her students. But instead, she took a risk on me. She saw my talent, and she knew that through discipline, I could achieve my musical goals.
Those goals were not achieved without hard conversations in Dr. G’s office about practice schedules, scales, and overall commitment to school and to myself. It took long hours of practice inside and outside of the studio, and it took cancelling my Netflix and Hulu subscriptions to increase my free time (for more practice). It took waking up four hours before my first morning class to begin the day with the instrument I love, even though I’m in no way a morning person. My goals demanded sacrifice, and it took a year of private piano instruction and coaching before I felt like I was making progress. As a person who has always played the piano every single day, it was frustrating to know an instrument so intimately, yet to have it feel so foreign. Dr. G gave me the tools I needed for classical translation by graciously coaching me through the darkest times of rehearsal. She never allowed me to quit on myself. And because of her, and the rest of the incredible faculty in the Music Department of SFCC, I was able to achieve what I felt was previously impossible: playing Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Prelude in C# Minor.”
When Dr. G assigned me the Rachmaninoff prelude, I felt intimidated. I’d never played something so complex, so demanding. But I also felt grateful to be assigned such a difficult piece, because I knew that Dr. G and I had reached a certain level of trust in our student-mentor relationship. She trusted me to honor the song by playing it to the fullest of my abilities, and I intended to do so. I spent 125 hours in one month honing this piece: listening to others play the piece, adjusting my pace and momentum and tone, refocusing. This piece became a narrative that strung through my head constantly; my very own classical theme song. And this piece, along with Dr. G’s guidance, was what gave me the confidence to apply for my next step: Whitworth University.
And though the audition process was nerve-wracking, SFCC gave me plenty of experience through their quarterly juries for music students. Before, during and after the audition, I kept telling myself that those butterflies in my stomach were ones of excitement rather than anxiety. Dr. G’s texts of encouragement also helped. And it was comforting to know my fellow SFCC student and friend, Zawng Lum, would audition for Whitworth directly after me. Without relaying the details of the audition minute by minute, or the agonizing wait for an answer thereafter, let’s just say both Zawng and I have been blessed with a generous music scholarship of $40,000 each to attend Whitworth in the fall, and that is a direct result of our time spent preparing at Spokane Falls.
Zawng and I are just two stories that speak to the excellent legacy that Spokane Falls will leave in this community. Yet for our lives, SFCC was the first step towards greatness. It’s easy as a student to feel that our time isn’t valuable, our energy isn’t valuable, and our story isn’t valuable. But let stories like these stand as testaments. One student’s willingness to change his life can change his community, can change his city, and can change the world. These are the seeds of leadership that SFCC sows. These are the fruits of leadership that we are just beginning to taste.
Essay by Zawng Lum
I am an international college student from Myanmar, South Asia, and in the midst of completing my 2nd year at SFCC. I come from one of the poorest countries in the world. Myanmar is currently under military dictatorship and involved in the longest on-going civil war for the past 60 years.
Individuals like myself who come from Myanmar, face many challenges financially to study abroad. However, with the financial support of my uncle last year, I was able to attend SFCC full-time as a freshman. Since then, my uncle suffered tremendous financial difficulties and sadly, could not support me further. My father’s monthly salary as a Baptist pastor is only $300 (US currency) so it is impossible for my family to support me financially in higher education. Also worthy to mention is that 74% of the 54 million people that live in Myanmar are Buddhist. However, I am Christian and only a small population of 4% in my county follow this faith. I wanted to come to the United States and study at SFCC to eventually transfer to a Christian-based university like Whitworth to earn my Bachelor of Music Degree in piano.
As an international student in the United States, I have had to overcome many obstacles. I am not permitted to work off campus and have not had the opportunity to receive employment through work-study grants. As I entered my 2nd year at SFCC last fall, I was desperately in need of funds, otherwise I knew I would have to return to Myanmar. I limited my food costs to $50/month and sometimes ate very little so I could ration my portions. Fortunately, I was able to receive the gracious support of the Shadle Park Presbyterian Church ministry house to subsidize my housing. In the summer of 2018, my SFCC piano instructor Dr. Rosi Guerrero worked together with the CCS Scholarship Foundation and I was awarded a $4000 CCS Touch the Future Scholarship to continue my education at SFCC. I also received a SFCC Music Scholarship given to outstanding students and leaders that demonstrate musical talent, academic excellence and show the greatest potential.
My success story doesn’t end here. I will earn an Associates of Fine Arts Degree in Music at SFCC this coming June, and have made what seemed like the impossible, actually possible. I am very excited to announce that I will transfer to Whitworth University this fall, my dream college, to complete my Bachelor Degree in Piano Performance with a $40,000 scholarship!
Dr. Rosi Guerrero is not only the most important mentor in my life, but has been the best piano instructor I could have ever asked for. She teaches me every day that you can achieve anything you set your mind to, and to work hard, be persistent and have a winner-attitude in life. She is my hero and makes me stay positive throughout my journey here. I want to be just like her one day. I will remember her and everything that she has given and taught me for the rest of my life. When I was in the midst of financial trial, she was compassionate and fought for me. She is 100% committed to all her students, and myself included, and makes me believe in myself, and that the American dream exists in all of us.
The Lord is and also has been my absolute and faithful in life. I understand that it takes a village of individuals to assist students like myself in order to succeed. I want to empower others and inspire them through my own story, that no matter how many hardships and difficulties you may endure, never give up on your goals and dreams, and always believe that with every tomorrow brings new opportunities and hope.
The Lord has brought me faithfully through different seasons in my life, and I realize that whichever direction I choose, it must be Christ-centered and subservient to the Holy Spirit’s lead. I am grateful and humbled to become a Whitworth University transfer student from SFCC. I eagerly await this new chapter of life with anticipation and hope.