Joy of Music School

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The Fantastic Five

“The Voice” finalist Emily Ann Roberts addresses the media.

We’re joining four other Knoxville nonprofits to promote mentoring, attract more volunteers and hit a goal of serving an additional 1,250 kids in the next year. The program, called the Knoxville Area Mentoring Initiative (KAMI), includes Amachi Knoxville, Big Brothers Big Sisters of East Tennessee, the Joy of Music School, Girls on the Run of Greater Knoxville, and the YMCA of East Tennessee.

KAMI launched in January with an event that featured local leaders and celebrities. They included Bob Kesling, lead announcer on the Vol Radio Network, WATE-TV anchor Kristin Farley, WOKY-FM host Hallerin Hill, “The Voice“ finalist Emily Ann Roberts and UT baseball coach Dave Serrano. All urged others to be mentors through one of the KAMI groups.

KAMI is spearheaded by the Knoxville Leadership Foundation and serves 11 counties in East Tennessee. A U.S. Department of Justice grant provides funding. For more information, visit knoxmentoring.org.

 

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How You Can Help

  • Donate Wal-Mart gift cards so we can buy “star prizes” to motivate positive behavior.
  • Tell people about the GREAT office space available for rent in our building.
  • Set up a tour of the School. Yes, we give tours!
  • Call your elected officials and let them know how you feel about arts budget cuts.
  • Give us a review on Google and Facebook. A good one, if you please!

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Putting the Fun in Fundraising

It’s true that musicians practice and perform mostly inside. But that doesn’t mean we can’t occasionally throw on our leathers, jump on our Harleys, and feel the wind in our hair as we thunder off to the golf course (cue screeching tires sound).

We have two outdoor-themed fundraising events this year. In June, it’s the Joy of Music Ride and Poker Run. Join fellow Harley-Davidson enthusiasts at Two Doors Down in Maryville on Saturday, June 3 at 10 a.m. Bring $20 for yourself, $10 per passenger, and $10 per non-rider. Eat some BBQ, then follow the map to several area destinations. Pick up a playing card at each. At the end, there will be prizes for the best and worst hands. Proceeds benefit the Jeff Breazeale Foundation, which supports JoMS.

On October 2, break out the clubs and Swing for Joy at Gettysvue Polo and Golf Club. It’s $100 per player, with proceeds going to our music programs. Sponsorships are available!

Mark your calendar and stay tuned for more details!

 

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The Perfect Start to Your Holidays

hss2015-kids

The word “joy” is one we see a lot in the holiday season. It shows up on everything from greeting cards to wrapping paper to festive yuletide sweaters.

One way to be certain your holidays begin with a burst of actual joy: attending the Joy of Music School’s annual Holiday Sparkles & Spirits, a spectacular evening of food and drink, live and silent auctions, and heartwarming performances by our talented students.

This year’s Holiday Sparkles & Spirits is Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 6:30 p.m. The venue: Cherokee Country Club’s magnificent ballroom. Tickets are $125.

Among the gifts you’ll find in our live and silent auctions this year: items autographed by Peyton Manning, including a Super Bowl Jersey, 24 Swarovski animal figurines and a display case, a Raymond Valley Winery barrel wine dispenser, collectible wines, many elegant jewelry pieces, and men’s and women’s Vols basketball tickets, with parking.

Holiday Sparkles & Spirits is our biggest and most important fundraiser of the year. So come and find the perfect items for your holiday shopping list—and, in supporting our free music lessons and instruments for Knoxville youth, begin to feel the true joy of the season!


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Styx Steps Up

styx-vols

The iconic rock band Styx (“Lady,” “Come Sail Away,” “Babe,” “Mr. Roboto”) has a treasured place in pop music history. Still touring and performing, they recently landed in Knoxville and did a very special favor for the Joy of Music School.

The group’s charitable arm, Rock to the Rescue, which supports music education, health and well-being, disaster relief, and animal welfare, reached out to us with an offer. If we provided volunteers to collect funds from attendees at Styx’s Tennessee Valley Fair concert, then JoMS would receive a generous portion of the revenue.

Several good people jumped into action, including JoMS parent Nancy Evans, volunteer teachers John Caldwell and Tony Evans, Frank and Enzo Graffeo and a lovely person named Ginger who heard about our need for help collecting funds while listening to 106.1 The River.

Many thanks to Kevin Compton of Rock to the Rescue for getting us involved. We raised $980 for our music programs as the sun was setting over the packed Tennessee Valley Fair Amphitheater! Domo arigato, Styx!

 

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Letter From The Executive Director

Francis Graffeo

Francis Graffeo

When families apply for admission, we request a statement from every child. “Why do you want to study music at the Joy of Music School?” we ask them. We tell the kids to answer either with words or in a drawing, or both.

When I go through their replies it’s always revealing, often emotional, and, at times, hilarious. The recurring theme is eager anticipation and a child’s vision of themselves with music in their lives. Most of our kids have never had a music lesson. They’ve never had an individual teacher working with them every week. They’ve always held music as something they love, and they want more of it. They are not sure what to expect, but they know they want it.

The range of responses is astounding. One student, age 13, drew an elaborate picture of a band on a stage, labeling it “Playing worship music at Madison Square Garden.” Another, 14, wrote: “I am taking voice to get over my stage fright. I am taking piano to better myself with note names and all of the other musical terms.” An 8-year-old drew a long, sturdy grand piano, with strong legs and wheels, a piano bench and a simple human figure with a smiling face. He drew a prominent curving arrow pointing at the smiling face, with the label “Me.”

There are hundreds of student statements in our files. Each represents potential, anticipation and a vision of one’s future self through music. We, as stewards of these dreams, are inspired to bring reality to those visions, and to expand on them whenever possible. It’s truly a privilege and a joyous responsibility.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Francis Graffeo

Executive Director

 

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Spreading our Message

harrison-construction

Wait– was that a concrete truck bearing the Joy of Music School logo you just saw driving past?

Your eyes do not deceive! That’s a Harrison Construction Co. truck driven by Arthur Paquin. Arthur is a longtime supporter of the School who asked his company to put our logo — along with a helpful “Please support” — on the side of his truck.

Harrison Construction starting adding logos for community service organizations to its trucks back in the 1980s, says Doug Brown, vice president of concrete operations. “Support your local law enforcement, the fire department, Mothers Against Drunk Driving….We started getting good feedback and we’ve done it ever since.”

Harrison Construction has a total of 75 trucks and around 50 of them have a charitable logo of some sort, Doug says.

Arthur’s truck is a 2016 Mack concrete truck with a 10-yard mixer. Arthur is based in Alcoa, but he covers upwards of 16 counties. That means he’ll be spreading our good message — and concrete, of course — throughout East Tennessee.

Many thanks to Arthur, Doug and Harrison Construction!

 

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Music in the Club

frank-bart-mcfadden-rick-carl

Bart McFadden visited the Joy of Music School not long ago and was impressed by what he saw.

We’re especially happy about that because Bart is the new president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley, an organization that’s near to our hearts.

The Joy of Music School—which was founded in a Boys & Girls Club building!—teaches several music classes at two Knoxville Boys & Girls Club sites and a Boys & Girls Club program at Dogwood Elementary School. The classes are led by Will Carter and Anthony Hussey, and they include introduction to music, hand drumming and the basic elements of music.

Julie Carter, our director of music education, says we teach music to more than 150 kids affiliated with Boys & Girls Clubs.

Our total outreach program, which includes choir director Jessie Compton and brings lessons to a few other after-school venues, reaches hundreds children annually.

“Having a music experience is just so important,” says Bart, whose mother taught music at a Boys & Girls Club when he was growing up in Johnson City. “You just never know when you’re going to find a kid who has a real talent for it. It can catapult them to successes they never could have imagined.”

We couldn’t agree more.

 

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Our Sparkly Marketing

Meaghan Roland of Pilot Flying J

Meaghan Roland of Pilot Flying J

You can’t pull off an event like our annual Holiday Sparkles & Spirits without a lot of help from a lot of people. Some contributions are obvious, others less so.

One of those highly valuable (and not so readily apparent) helpers is Meaghan Roland, the lead graphic designer in the marketing department of Knoxville-based Pilot Flying J.

For the past couple of years, Meaghan has created the marketing material for our big fundraiser. These include the eye-catching save-the-date postcard, the beautiful poster pictured here, an RSVP card and an invitation.

“I was trying to show the festive nature of the event,” Meaghan says, explaining her design approach for this year’s material. “You want to strike a balance between fun and informative.”

Meaghan was introduced to the School by Tim Purcell, Pilot Flying J’s director of enterprise development and Joy of Music School board member. It was a quick and happy fit. “I grew up playing music, so I know it can grow an individual mentally and can create lasting relationships,” Meaghan says. “It’s been great to become acquainted with a few individuals at the Joy of Music School. Working with them has definitely been a humbling experience, hearing and reading about the good they do in East Tennessee.”

Thanks Meaghan! We hope to see you Dec. 6 at the Cherokee Country Club for the 2016 Holiday Sparkles & Spirits.

hss-invite

 

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Breyon is Back

Breyon Ewing and his student, Michael

Breyon Ewing and his student, Michael

Breyon Ewing’s achievements as a Joy of Music School student were extraordinary by any measure. Starting out as a “lovable, scrawny teen with oodles of potential” (in Executive Director Frank Graffeo’s words), he grew to become an accomplished singer with a robust tenor voice. As a senior in high school, Breyon earned the Grace Moore Memorial Scholarship—a merit-based full ride to the University of Tennessee.

Now, four years later, he’s adding to his JoMS legacy by returning to the School as a teacher.

This fall, Breyon began teaching piano and voice lessons to 15-year-old Michael and piano lessons to Michael’s brother David, 8. “Being back really feels nice,” Breyon says. “It’s cool.”

It was only natural to return to the School, where as a youngster he was taught by volunteer instructor Andrew Skoog, a celebrated tenor and UT associate professor of voice. “It changed my life—it really did,” Breyon says of the School. “Being in that program convinced me that I could get into music as a career.”

“I’m really proud of him,” says Frank. “He knows what it’s like to take an opportunity and make the most of it – and that’s going to mean a lot to his students.”

Breyon expects to wrap up his UT undergraduate degree next year and then will likely pursue a master’s in music pedagogy. This would make him a certified instructor, with a goal of setting up his own studio for teaching and performing.

We’re confident Breyon can achieve whatever he wants. In the meantime, we’re glad to have him back among our dedicated team of volunteer instructors.

 

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Have Gavel, Will Travel

Bear Stephenson

Bear Stephenson

Bear Stephenson is an extraordinary auctioneer. He’s been donating his time to our annual Holiday Sparkles & Spirits for years, and we are so grateful. His high-energy style never fails to electrify our live auction, not only entertaining our guests but encouraging them to donate generously. Come see what we mean on Dec. 6 at the Cherokee Country Club.

 

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