Is it better to be lucky than good? How about both? Our March fundraiser, Dining for Joy, was both. Except “good” doesn’t do it justice; it was GREAT! Fans of jazz and friends of the Joy of Music School gathered on what in hindsight feels like the last day before the pandemic shut down everything (lucky). Food trucks outside dispensed pasta, fried okra, and burritos in perfect alternating sync with intermittent showers (also lucky). Oh, and also in perfect alternating sync were event headliner, world-renowned saxophonist Greg Tardy, and distinguished JoMS alum, New York pianist Taber Gable (truly great). They were joined by Robert Linton on bass, and Griffin Photoglou on the drums. The jazz was energized and scintillating. The event had an aura of excellence and, importantly, achievement, as JoMS student Alyssa performed a beguiling violin solo. Smiles, applause, and generosity were abundant. All of the performers donated their services, while attendees and sponsors chipped in to the tune of over $10,000 toward our programs for musical kids who need it most (greater than great). Afterward, desserts were sampled as fans stood in line to show their appreciation to Greg and Taber, who along with all the other musicians donated their performances. After an experience like that, we’re all feeling lucky.
Category Archives: 1
Tennessee Specialty Plates
What better way to tell the world you support the arts than with a Tennessee Arts Commission Arts plate on your car? Tennessee drivers can purchase Specialty License Plates in place of the normally issued plate. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of these plates supports the organization featured, so it’s a great opportunity to boost the cause you care about most. The Arts Plate, which Frank is attaching to his car in the photo here, supports the Tennessee Arts Commission. So do as the motto says, “Support the Arts. Bolt them to your car!” Just take your old plate to your county clerk and swap it—they will prorate your tag fees, so you don’t have to wait until your tag renewal is due. Learn more at http://tnspecialtyplates.org/
Letter from the Executive Director
Life is not normal right now. We remember normal. Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago? While the staff and volunteers of the Joy of Music School pursue an augmented mission of getting kids’ musical lives back to as close to normal as possible, there are some unique and innovative things happening. As the staff began setting up dozens and dozens of weekly lessons for students and teachers via video link, we learned that connecting everyone brings out our creativity and problem-solving skills. One family with two JoMS piano students said there’s no way they could do their lessons online because their laptop (and its built-in camera) has a nonfunctional battery, and it’s 20 feet away from their piano. They can’t unplug it, and it’s way too far away for a video lesson. But wouldn’t a long power extension cord help? Well, yes, if they had wifi. But they do not. The laptop is connected to the internet via an ethernet cable, and it’s shorter than the power cord! Then inspiration struck! We sent them a long, long ethernet cable. They plug the laptop into a power outlet near the piano, run the ethernet cable to their node, and Zoom! — piano lessons are happening every week now for two deserving kids. That’s just one example of how our team of staff and volunteers are spreading the Joy of Music all across the area in impressive and creative ways. Our mission remains the same — but adjustments are happening every day. I couldn’t be prouder of our families, our team, and especially our kids as they keep the music alive. This challenge helps us stretch our minds, and refocuses us on our mission to the community, and especially to our students. Let’s stay connected!
How you can help
• Our awnings are not awesome. Do you do exterior awnings?
• Teach drums or percussion! We have kids waiting. Sign up on our website!
• Volunteer in our office. We need experienced administrative support
• Make a year-end donation via our website. Thank you!
• Special events are ramping up. Join the committee!
• Be Like Keith!!! Keith McClelland was on the JoMS board in seven of our first eight years. He also taught bassoon here as a volunteer from 2005 through 2009. A retired UT music professor who served as principal bassoonist in the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra for 36 years, he’s back teaching Rayne, age 14. Welcome back, Keith!
Letter from the Executive Director
Our volunteer teachers give lessons to more than 200 deserving kids. But did you know that our outreach teachers reach almost 1,000 more kids every year? These contracted professionals take music to Boys & Girls Clubs, Urban Family Outreach, and other in-school and afterschool programs in underserved areas. That’s a lot of music for kids who need it most.
Lately we are focusing on growing our outreach. How? We seek funding to support it, and not just in Knox County. We are working to get music to kids in outlying areas. We’ve already started to grow our reach, but more is in the works.
A recent grant from the Country Music Association Foundation will help us expand outreach and measure our impact this year. The Clayton Family Foundation has helped as well. Individuals such as Sharon Lord have stepped up to ensure our outreach is robust, too.
Our five brilliant outreach teachers—Ronda Mostella, Kiran Seth, Will Carter, Anthony Hussey, Rebekah Maxim, and Bethany Hankins—are out there teaching at sites near and far. In coming newsletters we’ll be sharing the impact of our outreach.
Music matters! And not just to the kids who can get to our Knoxville building! Stay tuned.
Yours sincerely,
Francis Graffeo
Executive Director
‘Bones’ Allen: The Beat Goes On and On
It seems like a long time ago. Phillip Fulmer’s Vols only lost to two teams that year, Auburn (twice) and Notre Dame. Bill Haslam was mayor. I-40 through town was hilly, swervy, and bumpy. And Mike Allen started volunteering at the Joy of Music School.
The year was 2004. “Bones”—a name given him at work by a boss who had five cooks named Michael, and he was the skinny drummer—heard an ad for the School on the radio and he couldn’t ignore it. He knew his single mom worked hard to provide him with paid lessons. He saw volunteering to teach at the School as a way to help kids like himself, and take the pressure off their hardworking moms.
“There is no teacher more enthusiastic about the Joy of Music School than Mike Allen,” says Julie Carter, our director of music education. “He makes us proud in many ways.” Mike, who now works as a real estate agent, has proven himself beyond teaching countless young percussionists. He has organized fundraisers, recruited teachers, and generally led the charge getting the word out about the School. “Every musician in town needs to tell everybody about the Joy of Music School,” he says. “In the early restaurant days, after working long, hard hours, I had to rush to make it to teach lessons. But those unhappy workdays melted away at the School. It’s in the name. It was and is joy for me. It always makes me happy teaching here.”
The hundreds of hours Mike has spent teaching over the years prove that you can give back to help kids who need it. And it comes back in the form of joy. We’re all grateful to Bones for 15 years of adding joy to the School.
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!
This is it—the one you’ve been waiting for! It’s our annual Holiday Sparkles & Spirits, a glorious evening of food, drink, gift shopping and heart-warming
performances by Joy of Music School students.
The excitement begins at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 11 in the beautiful Cherokee Country Club ballroom. Tickets for the 14th annual Holiday Sparkles & Spirits are $135
apiece. Proceeds benefit our music programs for kids who wouldn’t be able to afford them otherwise.
Live and silent auctions are the evening’s focal point. Conceived as a way for attendees to support the School while also checking items off their holiday shopping lists, the auctions will include jewelry (“sparkles”) and wine (“spirits”), but they won’t stop there. Among the things you can bid on are glamorous vacation getaways, memorabilia autographed by sports legends, fun nights out in Knoxville, event tickets, collectibles and much more.
Not only is the evening a LOT of fun, it’s our biggest and most important fundraiser of the year. So gather your friends and head over to the Cherokee club on Dec. 11. We’re counting on your support. And we promise, you’ll be glad you came!
Joe Jordan: Teacher on the Go
The life of a professional musician is full of surprises, as Joe Jordan can attest. Last year the Joy of Music School instructor was minding his own business when, out of the blue, he got asked to sit in on trumpet with a husband and wife duo performing at Knoxville’s Bijou Theatre. Next thing he knew, Joe was traveling with the couple around the U.S., Canada and even Australia!
Joe has played 49 shows and counting with the couple — a terrific Americana duo whose stage name is The War and Treaty. Joe and his friend Chuck Mullican, a fellow Knoxvillian who plays tenor saxophone, make up the band’s horn section. It has been quite a ride. They’ve played the Montreal Jazz Festival and at Radio City Music Hall. They’ve opened for Jason Isbell and Brandi Carlile, and Al Green.
The War and Treaty’s songwriter, Michael Trotter, “kind of expects us to be ready for anything,” says Joe. “He might come up with a new song and everybody learns it that day before performing it that night. I might have a solo on it. You never know. It’s exciting and really scary.” Joe and his wife, Claire, have three young children and they’ve been lucky enough to come on many of his trips with The War and Treaty.
Happily, most of the heaviest travel was over the summer, so it hasn’t interfered much with his JoMS teaching. This fall he’s teaching a pair of ukulele classes.
The War and Treaty is recording an album this fall and expects to promote it with a tour next spring. Will Joe get to tag along? “I certainly hope so!” he says. “I think they’ve been pleased with my playing.”
Change Is in the Air
It was a soggy summer in our building. We’re talking serious humidity. And that’s not good for musical instruments. Too much humidity and they lose their ringing quality. (Too little, conversely, and they may crack.)
We took our own steps to reduce the wetness. We ran dehumidifiers, changed the fan speed, left the AC on at night, turned it off at night, made it warmer, made it cooler, closed some doors, opened others. Nothing worked.
That is until our friends at Pipe Wrench Plumbing, Heating & Cooling came to the rescue. After a call from Building Manager Ed Sublett, they diagnosed the problem (ironically, a new AC unit that was “too efficient”) and proposed a solution: an in-line dehumidifier. But it was going to cost $6,500!
Soon afterward, Pipe Wrench General Manager Whitney Mitchell toured JoMS at the invitation of Executive Director Frank Graffeo. He introduced her to staff , teachers, and students. He showed her the at-risk instruments as well.
Finally, Frank sat with her at the end of the tour and asked if her company would be willing to donate the solution to the moisture problem. Whitney’s reply? “I had my mind made up five minutes into the tour.”
The School now has a $6,500 in-line dehumidifier, and the air is Goldilocks all the way: Just right! The instruments are in the zone and sounding great. And, to top it off, Pipe Wrench Plumbing, Heating & Cooling is presenting sponsor of our Swing for Joy benefit golf tournament (see page 3). To all that goodness we say to Whitney and Pipe Wrench, Cool
A Jazz Legend in Our Midst
Did you know that one of America’s top jazz saxophonists and bandleaders lives and works in Knoxville? That is when he’s not touring with Wynton Marsalis or recording with Ravi Coltrane, Bill Frisell, Ellis Marsalis and others.
He’s Greg Tardy, a name that’s synonymous with excellence in improvisation, inspiration, and instruction.
Now, mark your calendars because Greg Tardy will be performing with JoMS (and Juilliard) graduate TaberGable on March 10 in a Joy of Music School fundraiser. It’s our second annual “Dining for Joy” event. Location, ticket prices and other details to come!
Greg became friends with the Joy of Music School after moving to Knoxville nearly a decade ago, when he toured and expressed interest in supporting our work. While he travels too much to be a board member and is too heavily booked teaching students at the University of Tennessee to volunteer as a teacher at JoMS, he gave an enthusiastic “yes” when our ExecutiveDirector Frank Graffeo recently approached him about “Dining for joy.”
We couldn’t be more excited to hear Greg and Taber (plus other guests) perform together at this intimate, jazzy evening supporting our School!
Save the Date: Dec 11th
Want to be sure your holidays are filled with joy? Come to Holiday Sparkles & Spirits, a spectacular evening of food and drink, live and silent auctions, and awe-inspiring performances by JoMS students. It’s Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 6:30 p.m. at Cherokee Country Club. Tickets are $130 each. The event features live and silent auctions with items generally focused on jewelry (“Sparkles”) and fine wines (“Spirits”). But there will be plenty of other offerings, including excursions, sports tickets, autographed memorabilia, and more. Our most important fundraiser of the year, Holiday Sparkles & Spirits is a delightful evening and a great way to get some holiday shopping done while supporting an undeniably worthy cause. So come and add joy to your shopping list, and save some for yourself as well.
How You Can Help!
•Get your golfing friends signed up for Swing for Joy!
•Let us know if you’d like to serve on a committee like special events, finance, or PR/marketing. You don’t have to be a board member to serve.
•The School needs two window awnings and an exterior stair awning replaced. Can you help?
•We currently have an extra need for piano and violin teachers. Sign up to volunteer now!
•Know how to replace drop ceiling tile? We need four pieces replaced. All need custom cuts and/or holes. Help!
•Be like Judy Smith! Judy Smith is a volunteer who comes to the School regularly to help maintain our Star Prize system for the students. She helps organize bulky files, and gets our large mailings out the door efficiently. Thank you, Judy!
Support the arts with a specialty license plate!
The arts are getting cut from state budgets across America. In Tennessee, we are fortunate to have an additional source of funding. The extra revenue received from specialty and personalized license plate sales is key to funding the arts in Tennessee. More than 70% of the money used to fund the 800+ grants from the Tennessee Arts Commission last year was from the sale of these specialty license plates.
If you are interested in supporting us in this way then head on over to TNSpecialtyPlates.org and pick from several of there colorful options!
See You on Sunday, May 5!
It ’s that time of year again — the Joy of Music School’s annual spring recital! Our students can’t wait to show you what they can do. There’ll be singers, guitarists, violinists, saxophonists, a whole class full of baritone ukuleles, and more! The recital takes place on Sunday, May 5 from 2 to about 5 p.m. We’ll be at the Scottish Rite Temple, located at 612 16th Street in Knoxville. Note that there’s free parking behind the building in a big UT parking garage. Afterward we’ll have a reception with wonderful buffet-style dining. We truly hope all friends of the School can join us, even if you don’t stay for the whole event. This is not only an important event for our kids, it’s a deeply satisfying one for anyone who supports our mission of making music education available to all.
Joy of Music School 