Band Together

I am fortunate to live in a community that supports its public school music program. But other students are not so lucky. In this era of budget cuts, many music programs – particularly those in disadvantaged areas – are struggling or disbanding. So I decided, along with Bassem Shoucri and Emily Hogin - two of my classmates who share my love of music - to form Band Together, a student organization to raise money for inner-city music programs in jeopardy.

At the suggestion of one of our teachers, we visited Toby Harwell, the music director at Lennox Middle School. With a look of resigned despair, Toby explained his students’ plight to us. Although his school is only five miles from ours, it serves some of the poorest and most troubled families in California. Toby’s students can’t afford instruments of their own, and the school does not have enough to go around. To make matters worse, the few instruments he had were 25 to 30 years old and in constant need of repair. Whenever an instrument broke – and it happened every day – the three students who shared it did not get to play. Already spending $7,000 a year out of his own pocket on instruments and repairs, Toby could not afford to spend more.

As avid musicians, my friends and I appreciate the joy of playing in a band: how it boosts self-confidence, adds meaning and inspiration to life, provides an outlet for self-expression, and instills a sense of pride and belonging. Lennox Middle School’s band program is more than just a class; it is a supportive peer group. Toby explained that many of his students come from homes where the parents have substance abuse problems or work multiple jobs with long hours. His band provides a safe haven for these students. By the end of the meeting, we were all fired up to help Toby’s program.

We contacted local leaders, parents, and community members asking for donations and used instruments. We held a fundraising party where student groups (including my saxophone quartet) performed to raise money. Fortunately, several suppliers agreed to sell us musical instruments at their cost. We raised nearly $8,000, allowing us to provide Toby’s students with more than twenty new and used band instruments, and even more cases and accessories.

Shortly after making our donation, I went to Lennox to hear the students’ spring performance. At the beginning of the concert, Toby asked the ensemble to hold up the instruments donated by Band Together. A stream of glittering metal danced under the house lights. In the forty minutes of band tunes that followed, despite missed notes and shaky tuning, I heard a symphony. Rarely have I been happier than when I walked out of the auditorium knowing that, in however small a way, my friends and I had shared the joy of music and given kids a chance at better, more fulfilling lives.

This Saturday we are having another fundraising party to raise money for another deserving local school that needs our help.  This is a link to a flyer with the details. I hope you can come.  If not, I hope you’ll consider writing a check or donating a used musical instrument.  Thanks.

Kevin Currey
318-6315
bigsky513@yahoo.com