“This is the Big One for our students,” says Julie Carter, director of music education. She’s talking about the Joy of Music School’s Annual Recital, which will be held Saturday, May 11. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: April 2013
Spring Cleaning at the School
At their peak, more than 60 eager volunteers descended on the Joy of Music School March 16 for an amazing clean-up day we won’t soon forget. The biggest group of helpers came from 
the Regional Church of God and Christian School in Delbarton, W. Va., who heard about us on the “Secret Millionaire” TV show. They were in the area
Letter from the Executive Director
I recently got evidence that the School is known literally around the world, that the work of our volunteers, staff, board and kids is talked about and acted upon by people 8,500 miles away in another hemisphere on another continent.
I was contacted by a young woman from Johannesburg, South Africa, Kelly Grevler, who, inspired by the work we do here, is starting a program to teach inner-city girls guitar for free. We set up a Skype session and connected via internet video. Continue reading
Imagining Our Future
Every day at the School, we are surrounded by constant reminders of our mission. We hear it in the hesitant notes of a first-time pianist. We see it in the giggling faces of our ukulele class. We feel it when our graduates perform on significant stages. We know the importance of our work and the difference it can make in a child’s life. What we don’t always know is if we’re doing everything we can to fulfill that mission. While we have more students, teachers and exposure than ever, Continue reading
Helping Our Neighbors
Lonsdale Elementary School, located in the same neighborhood as the Joy of Music School, is not short on challenges. It was one of Knox County’s two poorest performers for “Achievement” in the 2012 State Report Card Grades. Yet at the same time, its “Value- Added” score—a measure of the opportunities a school offers children—was very strong. The Joy of Music School is part of the “Valued-Added” success story at Lonsdale. We’re working with the national organization Project GRAD, a public schools/private sector partnership promoting 
national education reform, Continue reading
Arts Advocacy Day
A foursome of Joy of Music School representatives attended Arts Advocacy Day March 19 in 
Nashville, coming away with some helpful ideas about working with lawmakers to advance our goals. The four were Advocacy Committee Chairman Oslo Cole, board members Ann Hitch and Susan Brackney, and Executive Director Frank Graffeo. Sponsored by Continue reading
How You Can Help
-Celebrate your birthday by having friends donate to the School instead of bringing presents (you have enough stuff already, right?)
-Consider the School in your estate planning. Several have already done so.
-Repost and retweet our social media news on Facebook and Twitter.
-Host a low-key house party benefit. Ask us how. It’s cool!
Board Member Profile: Mike Combs
“Sometimes things are God-sent,” says F. Michael Combs’ daughter, Dana Fox. “Sometimes, you simply are placed where you can do the most good.” Thankfully, School founder James Dick 
had the foresight to place Michael right where he was meant to be. As the Joy of Music School’s first president and current board member, Michael has had a long and seemingly fated relationship with the School. In the midst of his four decades as a professor of music at UT and full-time principal musician with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Continue reading
Needed: New and Gently Used Violins
The good news? Each week, 22 children are becoming better musicians, and hopefully better citizens, as students in our string program. The bad news? That number should be higher, as we currently have 10 kids on the waiting list for violin lessons. The best news? You can help.
Ed Gets Funky in Memphis
While Manager of Volunteer Resources and volunteer teacher Ed Sublett gets to hang out with future George Clintons all the time at the School, he recently got to meet the original funk legend at the Berklee City Music Network Conference in Memphis. Joining Ed at the conference 
was Director of Music Education Julie Carter. An invited presenter at the three-day meeting of music educators, Julie shared her knowledge on
Our Founder’s Car and JoMS: A Love Story
For those who had the privilege to know School Founder James Dick during his life, any story of his unpretentiousness comes as no surprise. Such as the tale of his old, white Mercedes Benz. With the sale of Dick Broadcasting, Mr. Dick was worth a considerable fortune and could afford any manner of new vehicle. But he loved that car, Continue reading
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The Joy of Music School provides free lessons, instruments, music and materials to hundreds of Knoxville-area children who otherwise would do without. For more on the Joy of Music School, including how to volunteer, please visit www.joyofmusicschool.org
Bray’s Anatomy
Joy of Music School student Brayden (aka “Bray”) came out of the hospital with an unusual prescription this year: play more music. Last Jan. 23, the 16-year-old Bray was critically injured on his dirt bike when he ran into an unmarked steel cable hanging between two trees. Knocked unconscious, Bray woke to a concussion, sprains, and most seriously, a torn hepatic artery, resulting in “grade four trauma” to his liver. Twelve surgical procedures, a gifted team of specialists at UT Medical Center, and many weeks spent in the hospital, have saved Bray’s liver and his life. The liver is the only organ that can regenerate naturally, so doctors expect Bray to be fully recovered by next year.
During his recovery from an initial procedure, one of Bray’s doctors recommended that Bray consider taking up a slightly more sedate hobby—like the guitar. Little did the doctor know that he was talking to a gifted guitarist who once performed at the Bijou Theatre with the popular Nashville-based band Hot Trio. The doctor soon became a fan of the young musician. Bray has been a student at the School for five years, originally taking up the instrument because it was “cool to see older kids” play and he liked the musical “freedom” offered by the guitar.
“Bray’s family has been an enduring and endearing part of the School for years,” says School Executive Director Francis Graffeo. “Bray’s recovery has been wonderful.” Bray’s two younger brothers also are students at the School, so we all are feeling blessed that we get the privilege of enjoying his family’s musical talents—and newfound dedication to less extreme activities—for years to come.
The Joy of Music on PBS
PBS viewers across Tennessee now know why we are so passionate about what we do. It’s because of people like young violinist Kristen Thames, voice instructor Andrew Skoog, general music teacher Joe Jordan, and Joy of Music School graduate and current UT music student Breyon Ewing. The four recently were included in a feature about the School on “Creative 
License”, Continue reading
Joy of Music School 