Inglewood Tutors

About Inglewood

Inglewood, California carries with it a certain reputation: gang violence, racial tensions, and poverty are all attributes that popular culture ascribes to this community of south central Los Angeles. For decades, Inglewood has been fraught with a variety of problems, but has struggled through them regardless, with a growing population and persistence to participate in the broader culture of southern California. Inglewood is home to the Southeast Symphony Association, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to including African-American musicians in the musical scene, regardless of their circumstances or background.

Mabel Gunn, in 1948, founded the Southeast Symphony Association. As a response to segregation laws that separated African-Americans and Whites from community participation and representation together, Gunn wanted to create an orchestra that was welcoming to people of color. Today, the association's orchestra remains the longest continuously performing primarily African-American orchestra in the world. Alumni of the association's orchestra have gone on to perform with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra and the El Paso Opera Company. Nissan has been a sponsor of the Southeast Symphony Association, and its participants have performed in various venues throughout California and the rest of the world.

Gunn’s visions have been realized over several decades of the orchestra’s existence, with African Americans enjoying a space to not only learn how to play in an orchestra, but also to prepare themselves for other musical professions, outside of the Southeast Symphony. It has been a boon to countless persons of color, providing them a space where their culture can thrive and explore its relationship to classical music. They bring orchestra music to regions where classical music is not readily found, and continue to invite a stream of talented musicians to play for them and perfect their craft.

The Southeast Symphony’s motto, “Diversity, Artistry, Passion,” reflects its values. Likewise, Grade Potential tutors in Inglewood employ these same values in their work. They value diversity, recognizing the cultural contributions of their clients as intrinsic to their success and identity as a student. Artistry is present in music as well as learning—tutoring, in many ways, is an art. Different skill sets and people skills are required for individual clients, and a tutor must be able to read the needs of their students in order to properly help them with a creative approach. Passion is perhaps the most important ingredient for tutors as well as musicians—loving what you do and doing it well comes from a place of passion. Students can develop a passion for learning, even in subjects they struggle, when they work with a passionate tutor that can imbue an enthusiasm for the subject at-hand.