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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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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Marrying Music & Video: A Pro’s Perspective

Phil Fuson Photography by Bill Foster

Phil Fuson
Photography by Bill Foster

As a composer for Scripps Networks Interactive, Phil Fuson creates music that appears on HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Travel Channel and more. As a volunteer at the Joy of Music School, he shares that understanding of music and video with our students. He’s co-instructor, along with Manager of Volunteer Resources Ed Sublett, in our Music Production and Engineering for Teens class.

Bright, talkative, and absolutely energized by music, Phil is innately a teacher, with a big personality that captures his students’ attention. With the process dominated by technology, he teaches them on software that Phil says he’s worked with “since it was on the Atari, so I really feel ancient.” Today’s version of the software, Logic Pro X, is the industry standard, and Phil sees it as the best teaching tool for kids seeking a future in his line of work.

Phil is a native of Pineville, Ky., and a product of Jerry Coker’s University of Tennessee’s legendary jazz program. His early musical influences include the Beatles and the Dave Clark Five, introduced to him by his cousins; Louis Armstrong, Nat Cole, Basie and Duke Ellington, thanks to his stereophile dad; and Uncle Dave Macon, often played on his mom’s favorite radio station in Jamestown, W. Va.

For Phil today, service is a core value. He cites Herbie Hancock’s recommendation that while we are reaching up as musicians, we should also pull up those less fortunate. And doing good, it turns out, feels good! “The joy of music goes both ways,” Phil explains, describing his JoMS students as “interested, voraciously curious and wicked bright.”


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Q&A with Our Student, Aaliyah

Aaliyah and her teacher, Charles Parham

Aaliyah, 10, started taking lessons at the Joy of Music School three years ago. She now plays piano and sings in our choir. Her older brother, Nathan, takes drum lessons at the School, too.

How did you hear about the Joy of Music School?

I was really interested in music and wanted to play the piano. My Mom and my Nana signed me up. In second grade, they showed a video in my class about Beethoven and how he used to play the piano, and I loved that. That’s what made me want to learn.

Did you like the Joy of Music School right away?

Yes. Especially the first teacher I got, Mr. Will (Carter). He taught a group of kids, and we did drum lessons to start. The next year I started playing the piano and my teacher is Mr. Charles (Parham).

What is your piano teacher like?

Mr. Charles is my favorite person at the Joy of Music School. He’s super nice and doesn’t get impatient when I don’t get the piano piece right away.

Do you have a favorite piece on the piano?

Yes. Für Elise by Beethoven.

When did you start in the choir? I started in the choir the same year I started piano, in third grade. I like the opportunities they give me in the choir. Last year, we did this thing where we made a mix of our music while we were singing and they put it online for other people to hear. (You can listen at foundsoundnation.org/curations/big-ears-2015-festival.)

If somebody asked you what is the Joy of Music School, what would you say?

It’s a great school for kids to learn music and sing. And it gives kids great opportunities.


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How You Can Help

  • Donate a jewelry piece or a bottle of fine wine or a week at your vacation home to our Holiday Sparkles & Spirits auction.
  • Buy a mic stand for the studio ($20).
  • Give us your digits: We need help with data entry.
  • Help us reach the HR person at your company so we can recruit volunteer teachers.
  • Plan on doing your holiday shopping at Holiday Sparkles & Spirits on December 8.
  • “Like” or repost our social media efforts. It multiplies our reach!
  • Our building needs new HVAC units. Would you like to donate one?
  • Does your company or family pick a charity to support every year? How about the Joy of Music School?


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The Great Piano Move

The story of how we got our newest piano is one with more twists and turns than a Chopin prelude. But thanks to the generosity of Reg and Mary Hodges and Richard Cadmus, it has a very happy ending.

The tale began when the Hodges came to visit our School in 2012, en route from Kentucky to their future retirement home in Florida. They had heard about us on The Secret Millionaire, an ABC-TV show featuring the Joy of Music School several years ago. Reg and Mary had a beautiful 1985 Baldwin baby grand that they wanted to donate when they moved full-time to Florida. We were so grateful! Only problem was, it was 500 miles away. How would we get it to our School for our students?

Executive Director Frank Graffeo did a lot of research and figured the best price he could get was $700 to ship the piano to Nashville. From there, former JoMS Board Member Brandon Herrenbruck generously offered to bring it to Knoxville for free. Still, that was $700 we didn’t exactly have lying around.

By spring 2015, the clock was ticking. With the Hodges about to move from their Kentucky home for good, Frank knew he had to make a decision about the piano. And that’s when Lenoir City resident Richard Cadmus appeared seemingly out of nowhere, popping his head in and having a look around our School one afternoon in May. Richard works in “the piano business,” he said. Impressed by what he saw during a tour of the School, he offered to help us tune, repair and even move our instruments.

Frank’s heart leaped. “Did you say ‘move’?” he asked. “Are you talking local moves or would you help us move a piano from Kentucky?” Richard said he’d be glad to do it, free of charge.

The Hodges’ piano arrived in Knoxville July 10, the day after Taber Gable’s benefit concert. A big Joy of Music School THANK YOU to Reg and Mary Hodges and Richard Cadmus!hodges_pianoClick here go to to the top post.


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In Tune with a Legacy

josh_gaither

When Joy of Music School volunteer Josh Gaither arrived at his mentor’s workshop one grey afternoon in 2013, he knew it would be no ordinary meeting. The man awaiting him, Knoxville’s venerated, prolific piano tuner Frank Hambright, was 89 years old and his health was failing.

As they sat down together, Frank told Josh how proud he was of his star student. Then, without fanfare, Frank handed him his worn bag of tuning tools. “Keep them,” he told the young man. “These are yours.”

A few weeks later, Frank passed away at age 90.

Josh and pianos go way back. He was a precocious child, already playing piano at age three. Later on he took up guitar, drums, saxophone and bass, and played plenty of rock band gigs. But his connection to piano was special.

After high school, Josh worked in restaurants to make ends meet while playing music. At 24, he enlisted in the Army and served two tours of duty in Iraq. When he returned home, he studied music at Pellissippi State Community College under Tom Johnson. While Johnson noted that Josh “was an excellent piano and saxophone player,” he recognized Josh’s special gift at the keyboard. Josh remembers that Johnson “steered me back to the piano, and toward jazz.”

Taking Tom’s advice, Josh went on to study jazz piano at University of Tennessee with Donald Brown. Late in his time at UT, Josh learned that the Joy of Music School needed volunteer teachers. So he applied, saying he wanted to “give back to the community, and I already loved working with kids.”

It was around this time that Josh met Frank Hambright, who had been tuning the School’s pianos for about a decade, and began to work with him. The inspiration of his mentor and his own keen interest in the piano as an instrument pushed him to pursue piano tuning and technology as a second career. With encouragement and support from Frank, Josh finally realized his dream and started Volunteer Piano, where he tunes, repairs, and rebuilds pianos for a living.

After Frank’s passing, Josh got so busy with his business that he had to stop teaching piano as a volunteer. So nowadays he devotes his time at the Joy of Music School to tuning and maintaining the pianos—a wonderful way to keep his mentor’s legacy alive.


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See You at Cherokee Country Club!

The 2015 version of Holiday Sparkles & Spirits, our annual fundraiser party, is shaping up to be the biggest and most festive yet. It’ll have all the elements that make HS&S one of Knoxville’s most inspiring evenings, plus the event is so jam-packed with goodness we’re moving it to the Cherokee Country Club ballroom. The evening, Dec. 8, 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- this-world wines! Beautiful jewelry! A wild game dinner! An Italian dinner! 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 call the School at 865-525-6806 to reserve your spot now!

cherokee_hss


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Commence the Fugues and Inventions!

harpsicord

When Adrienne Dessel approached the School about donating a harpsichord, she didn’t realize we have never owned one. Frankly, we never gave it much thought. But now that it’s here we are thrilled to have the instrument for our kids, and the possibilities seem endless. The harpsichord is unique, instantly recognizable, and central to the development of keyboard music as an art. Any classical piano student has played Bach. But not so many have played Bach on the instrument for which much of his music was written! Now our piano students can, thanks to Adrienne, whose beautiful harpsichord was built—and painted—by her father, John Brodsky. Many thanks to them both!

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We Love Our Community!

One of the best parts of making Knoxville our home is the consistent love and support we get from local folks. Recently four groups have gone out of their way to raise money for the School, so here’s our chance to say thanks to them.

  • The International. In December, this nightclub hosted a special event with four heavy metal bands and 100 percent of the door proceeds benefited the School.
  • Scruffy City Hall. Event promoter Barry Garner presented the first “Rockin’ the Runway” event at the Market Square arts space in March. A fashion show with a rock and roll theme, it made a generous donation to the School.
  • West High School’s Music Theater Class. An April 22 event at the Standard has students performing a favorite song, with proceeds from the $5 tickets benefiting the Joy of Music School.
  • Painting with a Twist. Tickets to the studio’s second annual “Painting for Joy” event on April 28 cost $35, with a portion benefiting the School.

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Other Ways You Can Help

  • Pitch in on our Spring Recital on May 9. We need a truck, setup, ushers, kid wranglers, food servers, breakdown, and more.
  • “Follow” “Like” “Friend” “Plus One” us. We’re on Facebook, Twitter, Google, LinkedIn and Instagram. • Share this newsletter with someone who doesn’t know us.
  • If you donate, please let us know if your company matches employee gifts.
  • Buy a $50 tuning hammer (wrench) for our new harpsichord
  • Have carpentry skills? Please fix our guitar storage shelf!
  • Underwrite guitar carrying bags for the kids ($40 each)
  • Shop at smile.amazon.com and select us as your charity. We get a donation equal to .5% of what you spend.

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Our Building Has Never Looked Better

You might think it would be hard to get people excited about “cleanup day” at the Joy of Music School. But then, if you know anything about the volunteer spirit around here, you’ll understand why our two recent cleanup days were smashing successes.

The first, in mid March, came at the end of a soggy week. So we dodged the raindrops by moving all our efforts indoors. Led by Ed Sublett, our manager of volunteer resources, 31 helpers completed all manner of super-important tasks, from wall washing to tile replacement to organizing our deeply disorganized supplies closet. Special thanks to Marco’s Pizza for donating lunch.

Another eager group appeared at the School in late March for an outdoor cleanup. They swept our parking lot and removed debris, trimmed our rose bushes and hedges, unclogged drainage areas and more. These friendly helpers were representing Knoxlife church, which donated mulch as well as a new evergreen bush next to our walkway.

Thanks, all, for helping the Joy of Music School look its best this spring!

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