THE classroom filled with the sounds of a band struggling to be born, a cacophony of squealing and buzzing. Middle school students in a working-class Brooklyn neighborhood were trying to produce the note F.
ALANA VEGTER built her credentials as a professional musician while coaching students in Brooklyn. Ms. Vegter, 25, was there as part of a well-financed experiment by some of the nation's most powerful musical institutions. The experiment is called, clumsily, the Academy -- a Program of Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School and the Weill Music Institute (the institute being an arm of Carnegie).
In its second season, which ended this month, the academy extended fellowships to 34 graduates of leading music schools to receive high-level coaching and lessons in a two- year program. They play concerts on Carnegie's stages and participate in master classes. Part of the deal is a commitment to teach one and a half days a week at a New York public school, which pays the academy $13,200 for the service.
The idea is ambitious: Mold a new kind of musician in a time of declining audiences and -- seemingly -- dwindling relevance for classical music. Performers focused intently on artistic development are being asked to step outside themselves and spend time away from their instruments.
