Any jazz or pop musician will tell you that “changes” are chords that make up a song’s harmony and tonality. Well, there are some changes of the standard variety taking place at the Joy of Music School this January, but they’re still intended to keep the music flowing. We will bid a fond farewell to our board president Cindi Alpert as she rotates out of that position after two years.

Cindi, a jazz musician herself, and a radio station owner to boot, started supporting the School in 2012 with an event sponsorship. She then created a charitable promotional CD through her radio station, 106.1 The River, of local musicians playing holiday music. All of the proceeds supported JoMS. She went on to create our Swing for Joy charity golf tournament in 2016, which is thriving.

Cindi joined the board in 2014 and was elected president in 2018. “Cindi’s energy and overflowing charitable heart made this a better organization from the minute we connected with her,” says Executive Director Francis Graffeo. “We are all so grateful.”

Term limits dictate that she now step off of the board for at least a year, but she intends to continue her support. “I’m a lifelong musician and immediately connected with the mission of the School when I learned about their mission,” she says. “I will always be a supporter and collaborator.”

Cindi will be replaced in 2020 by President-Elect Jack Fellers, a retired professor from the University of Tennessee. Jack is already an enthusiastic board leader, having served on several committees, and is a volunteer piano teacher at the School. He has served on the board of directors of the UT School of Music as well. “I’m looking forward to directing my energies toward the continued success of the School and of the kids we teach,” he says.

These changes, like any good set of chords, make the best kind of harmony.