Joy of Music School

Music Notes – Newsletter

Category Archives: Marketing/Public Relations

The School works hard to keep our kids and activities in the public eye.


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No Kidding, This Will Be a Fun Show

Ethan Bortnick

Ethan Bortnick

He asked for piano lessons at age three, and by five he was composing songs. Now 15, Ethan Bortnick is performing at venues worldwide and has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America, Nickelodeon, The Disney Channel and Oprah, where he was named one of “Oprah’s All-Time Smartest, Most Talented Kids.”

Ethan will share his songwriting and singing gifts in Knoxville to support the Joy of Music School and East Tennessee PBS on October 27 at 7 p.m. at the Bijou Theatre. Packed with energy and excitement, the family friendly concert will feature Ethan and his band, a children’s choir and local guest artists. Crowd pleasers range from the Beatles and Elton John to Motown and Michael Jackson, along with classical and jazz favorites, recent hits, Broadway tunes and his original songs. Tickets are $22 for children, $32, $52 and $102 (which includes a meet and greet with Ethan afterward). Purchase tickets at http://www.knoxbijou.com or by calling 865- 522-0832.

Ethan created and hosted his first PBS concert special in 2010. In 2013 he starred in “Anything is Possible,” a feature film for which he co-wrote the songs and scored the background music. The following year, Ethan created and hosted “The Power of Music” – a concert special airing over 1,500 times on public television. To date, he has raised more than $40 million for nonprofit organizations worldwide, sharing stages with such artists as Elton John, Andrea Bocelli, Beyoncé and Josh Groban.

 

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Our Solid Foundations

Applying for grants from charitable foundations is part of our regular routine here at the School. Sometimes we get the money we’re seeking and others we get a polite “not at this time.” Happily, this year has seen an upswing in gifts to JoMS from foundations. Peyton Manning’s PeyBack Foundation gave the most it has ever donated to us. Bonnaroo Works Fund matched its largest gift to us, which dates back to 2012. The Tennessee Arts Commission awarded us its largest sum in four years. We’ve also received new support from the Kinder Morgan Foundation. We are in the third year of an Arts Fund grant from the East Tennessee Foundation, the largest we’ve ever gotten from it. The Jeff Breazeale Foundation made a generous award described in these pages last year; it continues to support our work substantially.

We are always seeking new sources of foundation funding. To that end we are awaiting word from the CMA Foundation (the Country Music Association), and the Blackberry Farm Foundation. We hope to have more good news in the coming weeks from them. We are grateful to all the foundations that underwrite much of our volunteer teachers’ work with deserving children and teens. Thank you!

 

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A Letter from the Executive Director

Frank Graffeo, Executive Director

Francis Graffeo, Executive Director

Our mission says we serve “at risk” youth. Kids with no supervision and no direction are at risk. Whether at home or on the streets, the enemies are inadequate nutrition (or its opposite, obesity), idle vandalism, unfettered internet access, defenselessness from intruders, gang influence and more. Those are risks that kids cannot handle on their own. They degrade a child’s character, work ethic and self-image, and bring communities down. It’s risky out there. So let’s protect youth from risk.

Risk is bad, right? Not all of it. Our children can benefit from risk-taking, but adults need to help. I’ve seen kids risk a great deal, putting a lot on the line and emerging better and stronger on the other end. I’m talking about positive risk-taking. In public. On display. With adult guidance. Learning a piece of music, grappling with an instrument, trudging to lessons, putting in the practice time, the repetition, the effort. That’s hard. But those are just the buildup to that perilous moment when the hall goes silent and it’s time to perform, scared or not. That kind of risk has little downside and an enormous upside. Talk about character, work ethic and self-image! When a child has put in the effort and can stand on a stage and do something that most of their friends (and most adults) cannot do, they gain a self-confidence that no one can defeat. And they get applause for it!

In a performance kids risk embarrassment, failure, perhaps social standing. If they fail, stop playing and slither off the stage, who is in the wings? A teacher. Their family. Their friends. All there to give support and encouragement for next time. If we’ve done it right, a kid risks disappointment … but not from others; rather, the enemy is disappointment in oneself. The child controls what’s coming out of that instrument. It’s ultimately up to one person. Face the risk and succeed! Defeat disappointment and celebrate!

What better way to develop a sense of self? Set goals. Self-monitor. Encounter risk. Music does that for kids. Kids do that with music. Encourage the risk. Watch the growth.

Francis Graffeo

 

 

 

Executive Director

 

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It’s Recital Time in Tennessee!

JoMs_recital_kids

The Joy of Music School’s Spring Recital has a new home. This year, all the fun and excitement take place at the Scottish Rite Temple, right across from the University of Tennessee campus at 612 16th Street.

Save the date: Saturday, May 7, from 2- 4 p.m.  The Scottish Rite Temple is “a great venue,” says Julie Carter, the Joy of Music School’s Director of Music Education. “There’s a really big auditorium with plenty of seating for the audience, and there is lots of space on the floor and the stage for performances.”

Our annual recital is a truly special event. Roughly 65 of our students will climb up on that stage to show their families and friends what they’ve accomplished—musically and personally—this year. There will be singers, pianists, guitarists, drummers, and all manner of brass and string performances. There will be jangly nerves — and great big smiles of satisfaction and pride.

The event is free of charge for all. Be sure to stick around afterward for a warm and celebratory reception in the temple’s fellowship hall.

We are most grateful to the Scottish Rite Temple for letting us use their beautiful performance space, and to Knoxville’s HomeTrust Bank for sponsoring this important and fun event!


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Letter from the Executive Director

Francis Graffeo

Francis Graffeo

Our volunteer teachers do the bulk of the weekly work here. Our staff also works hard, making sure everything is in place for the teachers and students. But there is another group of workers who don’t always get the spotlight—our board members. They do amazing and sometimes unexpected things to keep this organization operating at its best and growing for the future. A few examples: Professional writer and editor Pete Finch has been the anonymous editor of this newsletter for many years. Cindi Alpert donates air time and production work at her radio station. Susan Brackney gives hundreds of hours a year to our holiday fundraiser event. Many members are, or have been, volunteer teachers. We get legal advice from attorney Rick Carl. Mike Combs, founding board president, is a master organizer and motivator, giving countless hours to many initiatives. Tim Purcell connects us to the corporate world, and tackles problems with his ingenuity and hard work. Treasurer Lisa Price Scott, CPA, oversees our financial work. Bank president Trey Coleman helps with strategy and financial decision-making. These wonderful people, and many more unmentioned here, bind the School to the community. They strengthen existing bonds and reach out to form new ones. They conduct meetings, set policies, oversee, plan, protect, and care for the Joy of Music School. They attend recitals and applaud our kids like they would their own. They write checks. They find donated goods and services. They set an example and ask nothing in return. For all of that, they have our gratitude!

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Francis Graffeo

Executive Director


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The Art of Giving

Painting

Elizabeth and Cindi Alpert

Fancy yourself an expert painter? Well, good, because neither do we! But that isn’t stopping us from getting super excited about the upcoming Painting for Joy event.

This extremely fun evening, a fundraiser for the Joy of Music School, takes place May 5, from 6 – 8 p.m.

The venue is Painting with a Twist’s new location in Farragut: 11000 Kingston Pike, Suite 3, right behind Pittsburgh Paints.

The event is a guided painting class combined with delicious food and wine, wonderful music and a spirited, supportive crowd. Even if you don’t know the first thing about painting, on this evening you will create a masterpiece that you will be proud to take home. Honestly!

Seats costs $35 per person, $25 of which goes to the Joy of Music School.

The evening is the brainchild of Cindi Alpert, JoMS board member and owner of radio station 106.1 FM The River. She suggests you reserve your tickets soon because seats are selling fast! Go to http://www.paintingwithatwist.com/knoxville and click on “view full calendar.” Scroll down to May 5 and you’ll find a link that will take you to a reservation form.


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How You Can Help

  • Ask your musician friends if they’d like to volunteer as a music mentor.
  • Donate a DSLR camera and/ or Final Cut Pro editing suite to our Music Production and Engineering for Teens class. They’re ready to shoot and edit music videos!
  • Sponsor or host a house party to benefit the School.
  • Come to our spring recital May 7. The kids need applause.
  • Volunteer to help serve food at the post-recital meal.
  • Check out our list of sponsors and thank them for their support.


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We’re So Glad He’s Back

Rick Carl

Rick Carl

This year we got a new board president, but he’s not brand new. You might say he is renewed.

Rick Carl, a former Webb School music director-turned-lawyer, joined our board in 2002 and ascended to the presidency in 2006. But the next year, Rick’s wife, Lynn, an attorney and Knoxville Symphony Orchestra violinist, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Rick stepped off our board to tend to her. Sadly, she died in 2009, leaving Rick alone to raise their son, Rick Jr., then 12. We all grieved with our friend as his son played a piano composition entitled “He’s My Son” at her memorial.

But the world carries on, and Rick’s life took another turn when he married Joanna, a friend from 35 years earlier at Maryville College, where he was a music major. She is a sparkling presence in his life, and an extraordinary classically trained pianist as well. Rick Jr., a gifted musician, now attends the University of Rochester, and Rick has returned to the Joy of Music School. Once back on the board, he was unanimously elected president. We welcome back our not-so-brand-new president, and dear old friend, with open arms.


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Ring in the Holidays in Style

HSS2015

Get ready—it’s almost time for the Joy of Music School’s much-loved Holiday Sparkles & Spirits event. And this year, as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of HS&S, we’re taking it to the next level, with a beautiful evening in the Cherokee Country Club’s main ballroom.

The fun begins at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 8. The evening will feature heart-warming performances by Joy of Music School students and a dazzling array of gift ideas in our live and silent auctions. Out-of-thisworld wines! Beautiful jewelry! A wild game dinner! An Italian dinner (see page 4 for more details)! A condo in Vail Valley!

Your ticket price of $100 includes delicious heavy hors d’oeuvres and wine and, of course, goes to support the Joy of Music School. Please fill out and mail in the form at the right or, if you prefer, simply call the School at 865-525-6806 to reserve your spot now!


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Our Website Gets a Makeover

mobile JoMS

Does anything this cool ever happen in real life? You ask what something costs and instead of giving you the price, the seller offers it for free. That’s how the Joy of Music School got its new website. Executive Director Frank Graffeo asked Scott Brantley and Mary Byrne of Knoxville’s Umbrella Creative Group how much they would charge to build a new website for the School. These two remarkable people got back to him “within ten minutes of the email,” says Frank. Their price? Free. Gratis, on the house, zip, nada, pro bono. Frank couldn’t believe what he was hearing. As Scott explains: “Mary and I choose a nonprofit organization each year for this sort of donation. We had attended a fundraiser earlier in the year and knew about the work of the School, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity.” And are we ever grateful! The new site, still at http://www.joyofmusicschool.org, is up and running with many features the old site lacked. Perhaps most important, it works equally well on computers, tablets, and phones. So, that happened—in real life! Too cool for school? Not this one.


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A Letter from the Executive Director

Francis Graffeo

Francis Graffeo

Before electric light and fan-driven heat, we humans were forced indoors as daylight and warmth became scarce in December. Waiting it out for spring, we ate, drank and congregated in homes, clubs or places of worship. It was inevitable some of us would entertain and engage the others. That’s how many works of music have been created and performed. Before music was available at the push of a button, in countless candlelit rooms the musically talented ones would strike up a tune and unite everyone in a shared experience. Some danced. Some listened. Some sang along. Flickering shadows and resonant harmonies filled the gaps. Everyone was involved and perhaps drawn even closer together than the walls required.

As the holidays approach and we find ourselves drawn closer together by tradition, if not the cold, let’s take a moment and listen. These days music is everywhere. And you know you won’t see a musician every time you hear one. But when you do, please thank them, applaud them, toss a tip into their open case, and consider what that space might feel like, isolated by the dark outdoors, without the warmth of music and a musician.

Our December 8 Holiday Sparkles & Spirits event will have us all in a glittering room with darkness closing in from outside. You will indeed hear and see live musicians: young, eager, cheerful musicians trained by the teachers of this very special school. We sincerely hope their music will warm your spirits and add to your holidays, and bring you even closer together.

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Francis Graffeo

Executive Director


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A ‘Buon Appetito’ Worth Bidding On

The Maestro at Work

The Maestro at Work

It’s always one of the most sought-after items in our Holiday Sparkles & Spirits live auction. And with good reason. Who wouldn’t want a delicious, multicourse Italian dinner prepared by the “maestro” himself, Joy of Music School Executive Director Frank Graffeo?

“It was magnifico,” reports Geoff Proud, who won the Graffeo dinner at the 2013 Holiday Sparkles & Spirits. In fact, he and his wife, Melody, enjoyed the dinner for eight so much they made the top bid in 2014 too! (The auction actually got so heated, Frank agreed to do two dinners—one for the Prouds and one for fellow top bidders Carey and John Merz.)

The menu: pasta (made from scratch at the party), eggplant and chicken parmagiana, Italian broccolini, salad, and gelato for dessert. The parmagiana recipe came from one of Frank’s conducting teachers back in his school days. Though he was Irish, Frank recalls, “he was an opera conductor, so he can be considered an honorary Italian!”

Be sure to attend our Holiday Sparkles & Spirits event at Cherokee Country Club on Tuesday, Dec. 8. You’ll have a chance to bid on wonderful gift items like this — and many more.


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How You Can Help

  • Read this newsletter. Then give it to someone else.
  • Spending time with loved ones this season? Tell them about the Joy of Music School!
  • Have everything already? Ask for donations to JoMS in lieu of holiday gifts.
  • Go to smile.amazon.com and name JoMS as your charity. Amazon gives a percentage of sales to our programs!
  • Bring your sweetheart to Holiday Sparkles & Spirits. Mwah!
  • Follow us on social media and share our news with your friends.