Joy of Music School

Music Notes – Newsletter

Category Archives: Volunteers

Without volunteer music teachers, there would be no Joy of Music School. They are the heart and soul of the organization!


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C-N Students Pitching In

We’re getting some extra volunteer help this year from a foursome of Carson-Newman University students, Liz Rogan, Sarah Akres, Peyton Bennett and Beth Ann Noble.

They’re working on maintaining and servicing our instruments, organizing our music library and assisting Executive Director Frank Graffeo. They’ll also be helping out at Holiday Sparkles & Spirits, our big fundraiser on Dec. 5.

The students are pitching in as part of a service-learning program called “C-Nvolved.” They’re all students in Prof. Jayme Taylor’s Music Teaching Methods class, the next-to-last course they take before graduating with degrees in Music Education. All intend to become music teachers.

Prof. Taylor describes their volunteering as “the perfect platform for this class and hopefully a great service for the School itself.”

It absolutely is, says Frank. “I hope this new program will continue to grow in the years to come. It benefits the students, serves the organization, and ultimately helps our Joy of Music School kids. That’s what we’re all here for.”

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Honoring Our Teacher, Autumn

Autumn Arsenault

Seventeen-year-old violin instructor Autumn Arsenault, one of our youngest volunteer teacher-mentors, has been selected as an honoree via a national search for kids doing good things in their communities. She and 11 other youth from across the U.S. are being recognized by the Points of Light Foundation for their outstanding work. Points of Light’s youth enterprise, GenerationON, provides programs, tools and resources to engage kids and teens in service and volunteering.

Autumn, a junior at River’s Edge Christian Academy and the reigning Miss Tennessee Outstanding Teen, will have her work featured by GenerationON in a video on the website of this program’s sponsor, U.S. Cellular. Plus, the Joy of Music School will receive a grant from U.S. Cellular in support the work Autumn and her fellow volunteers do here. Building communities through volunteer service is what it’s all about. Congratulations, Autumn!

 

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Learning While Teaching

Walker Smith

Walker Smith hasn’t played the guitar much in recent years, focusing instead on clarinet (he was just named to the super-prestigious 2017 All-National Honor Concert Band) and alto sax (he plays in the jazz band at West High School).

But this year Walker, 17, started teaching guitar to a pair of Joy of Music School students—and he is loving it. “It’s challenging,” he says. “Sometimes it’s difficult to get them to notice things that are obvious to me, like playing in time. But I find it really fun, and when I get through to them, it’s so rewarding to see their progress.”

They’re starting with basic fingerstyle acoustic playing, though Walker plans to move on to their favorite music styles soon. Lance, a sixth grader, loves country music, while Roman, an eighth grader, likes pop music best.

Walker notices that teaching has affected his own clarinet studies. “I’m trying to be more aware of things I’m doing, mistakes I’m making, where in the past I sort of relied on my instructor to tell me,” he explains.

One other side benefit: “It’s definitely made me better at guitar, ” Walker says. “I had gotten a little rusty not taking lessons for so long. But I don’t want to be a teacher who tells but can’t do it himself!”

 

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Volunteer Profile: Anu Kumar

Anu Kumar

We’re not sure when Anu Kumar finds time to sleep. In addition to pursuing a degree in neuroscience with double minors in psychology and music composition, the UT junior writes a column for the student newspaper and holds a leadership role in the Pride of the Southland marching band.

Oh! And she volunteers at the Joy of Music School, where she teaches flute lessons to our student Marcella.

Back in high school, Anu had worked with some fellow band members on improving their skills. But she’d never taught a true beginner until she began working with Marcella last year.

How’s it going so far? Great!

“It’s been a much more personal experience than I thought,” says Anu, who grew up in tiny Riceville, Tenn., about an hour south of Knoxville. “I thought I was just here to teach students how to read music and be better players. But it’s also about helping students move past boundaries they set for themselves, about getting over the fear of failure. The aspect of being a mentor, not just a teacher, was eye-opening. It showed me how much my own teachers influenced me.”

We have no doubt Anu is serving as a wonderful mentor to Marcella. We’re so glad she could find time for the Joy of Music School in her jam-packed schedule.

 

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Letter from the Executive Director

Francis Graffeo, Executive Director

We recently welcomed a roomful of guests from area mentoring nonprofits, brought here by the Knoxville Area Mentoring Initiative (KAMI). We enjoyed a brilliant presentation by JoMS board members Dr. Malcolm Spica, a neuropsychologist/ musician, and Ben Smith, a record label owner, music promoter, and employee of AC Entertainment. They teamed up to present “What are your mentees listening to?” Their goal was to help mentors improve their connection with their young mentees through music. In the audience were mentors from our School, as well as mentors from Girls on the Run, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and KAMI’s supporting organization, the Knoxville Leadership Foundation.

We learned a lot about how to understand and talk about music that young people like. One key is to learn the right questions to ask. Why is your favorite artist your favorite? What do you like about this particular song? Is it the message or the overall sound you like? Does this song remind you of anything?

Dr. Spica and Mr. Smith helped us understand that our brains inherently “categorize” things, such as music, cultural movements, and more. As teens are “becoming who they are,” starting at around sixth grade, they categorize and identify with various music and musicians for reasons that often go far beyond the sounds they hear. It’s a time of change, and an opportunity for a mentor to connect if the kid will let them in. Often music is the entry point.

You can imagine that the Q & A that followed was lively and informative! The underlying message was that music is strong. It makes people strong. It can make important relationships stronger. I like the sound of that.

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Francis Graffeo

Executive Director

 

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Our Auction Action Heroes

Morton and Becky Massey

The Joy of Music School would not exist without the many hundreds of people who “give back” to their community. Among them is a couple who live out those words by helping the School in a unique and significant way—once a year, every year.

Morton and Becky Massey donate their time and work alongside our staff at our annual Holiday Sparkles & Spirits (see “Save the Date” on page 1), helping to run the auction check-in and check-out with calm, friendly expertise. And they follow up each year with detailed spreadsheet reports that make tallying all the auction data a breeze.

They started offering their unpaid work on local charity auctions in 2002 to replace a 22-year hobby of coaching girls softball together. They now work on roughly 60 events a year, helped by a rotating group of about five volunteers.

Says Becky, a state senator representing District 6: “Besides the joy of knowing we are helping nonprofits raise more money and make their events more effective, we learn so much about so many great organizations.” We are proud to count ourselves among them.

 

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Back to School, Back to JoMS

Sure, summer has its share of students and activity around our School, but things really swirl up in September. Julie Carter, our director of music education, is ready. “Enrolling returning kids, meeting new families, connecting mentors and mentees—I love helping build the energy this time of year,” she says. It’s also a time when a lot of new teachers join the scene.

Ed Sublett, our manager of volunteer resources, has his sights set on a new record. “We are shooting to engage the highest number of volunteer teachers in our history,” Ed says. “That’s because we have so many kids wanting and needing lessons.”

Organizing the building for upwards of 200 kids a week is no small task. But the staff and volunteers can hardly wait. So, bring it, autumn! This music won’t play itself!

 

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Keeping the Beat Alive

Fidelis at the drums

“No, it’s not super loud,” says Ruth Felix. “It’s in the garage.”

She’s talking about the drum set her son Fidelis, a sixth grader at Northwest Middle School, is happily pounding away on.

Fidelis is a student at the Joy of Music School and found out late last year that he’d get to bring a drum set home with him. Until then, as a beginner, he’d been using sticks and a practice pad to work on drumming hand exercises.

“He was doing really well in lessons and it was time for him to get a set,” says Mike Allen, his volunteer teacher at the School.

The Joy of Music School makes drum sets and other instruments available to our students much like libraries lend out books. Students promise to take care of them while getting lessons at the School and return them when they’re done.

Fidelis says he was excited about getting to take a set to his home. His favorite types of music are gospel and hip hop.

Fidelis has already made great strides since setting up the drums in his garage, says his teacher. “He’s gone from ‘I don’t know how to do this’ to sitting down and playing some very nice rhythmic patterns and exercises incorporating not just his hands but his feet.”

Mike imagines a happy future for Fidelis in drumming. “Every time I show him something he can’t do,” he says, “he can do it by the end of the lesson.”

 

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Our Star-Spangled Students

Tevan, Michael and their teacher, Myron Percy, on the ice.

It all started when the Knoxville Ice Bears asked the School if we’d like to perform the national anthem at an upcoming hockey game at the Knoxville Coliseum. We turned to Myron Percy, a volunteer trombone teacher, who composed an arrangement of the “Star-Spangled Banner” for three trombones. Michael, a ninth grader at Heritage High School in his first year at JoMS, and Tevan, a Powell High School 11th grader, worked hard with their teacher, knowing they would be appearing before thousands of sports fans. When the day arrived, the trio carefully trod to center ice, took their place in the glaring spotlight and delivered a rousing rendition of the anthem followed by enthusiastic applause. Fortunately, none of our sliphorn soloists slipped on the ice—or on any notes!

Well done, gentlemen!

 

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Lights, Camera, Joy!

Scott Minor, Frank Graffeo, Dave Huntley and Geoff Proud

You never get a second chance at a first impression, as the saying goes. That’s why, with former Board President Geoff Proud’s help, we enlisted a top director, sound engineer and cameraman to create the newest videos that will be up on our web site soon.

Geoff, an experienced writer and television producer, directed. He enlisted the volunteer help of Dave Huntley, a camera operator from Philadelphia, and Knoxville’s own Scott Minor, audio engineer. This dream team met with JoMS Executive Director Frank Graffeo and a string of kids, parents, teachers and donors one day recently to capture their testimonials on video.

We are grateful to everyone who gave their time on this super-important project. Keep an eye on our website, http://www.joyofmusicschool.org, for these revealing, heartfelt and very high-quality interviews.

 

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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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