New Percussion Instruments Complete the Sound

new york city, ny – Thanks to your donations this week, Keeping The Blues Alive made a donation to Meyer Levin High School in Brooklyn!

With such a small budget for the inaugural music program, Mr. Oberlin had his hands full trying to come up with ways to fund his classroom’s needs.  For a first-year band program, the most important materials required are instruments and music!  He was hard pressed to find either.

Meyer Levin School of the Performing Arts has been around since 1954.  It encompasses three different distinct academies of students from sixth to eighth grade.  They are called Eagle, Falcon, and Phoenix Academy.  Emphasis is placed on the manageable class sizes and teacher to student ratios.

Mr. Oberlin, the instrumental specialist at Eagle Academy needed a hand.

He explains, “Unfortunately, we do not have much of a budget for instruments, and some of my students are left having to share with their peers. This makes it difficult to motivate them, as they are frequently switching on and off of their instruments, and aren’t able to fully participate in rehearsals. This is most apparent in our percussion section, where a lack of instruments has left them sharing a single snare drum amongst 6 percussionists, along with a single marching bass drum that is barely functional.”

As a graduate of a percussion performance program, I understand his plight of connecting to the percussion section in the back of the classroom.  With limited instruments, it would be very difficult to keep their attention when there aren’t enough instruments to go around.

“Even in the earliest stages of their musical careers, my students show an immense love for music, and they all deserve to participate at the same level as everybody else,” Oberlin says.  “In obtaining these instruments, my students will be able to use them in band rehearsals in order to participate with the rest of the group. With only one snare drum at our disposal, our percussion sections does not have the means to participate fully, and our band is sorely missing the pulse of a full rhythm section. In the few short weeks since they’ve begun to play, my students have shown a remarkable dedication to learning an instrument. I hope to be able to repay their efforts by providing them with instruments that will add great depth to our band.”

Needless to say, we understood the need for more percussion instruments and supplies so we made sure to take care of Mr. Oberlin and his academy students, thanks to your help!

Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation,

I cannot put into words how much your kindness and generosity will impact my band students. My percussionists have been making due with having to share beaten and broken instruments, and despite this they are some of my most passionate and dedicated students.Thank you so much for your generosity in completely funding my project. My students are going to be overjoyed when I share the great news with them tomorrow. The ability to play on their own instruments will help me in giving them a great start to their musical careers. Christmas has truly come early for my band this year.

Foundations such as yours help to further the dreams and ambitions of students and ensure that they can discover a love of music. You have my most sincere thanks, and my students will cherish these instruments for years to come.

With gratitude,
Mr. Oberlin

As our mission states, Keeping The Blues Alive is a non-profit charity dedicated to preserving blues heritage – yes.  However, we are unbiased when it comes to enriching the lives of students pursuing music education and the passionate, selfless teachers who dedicate their time and efforts into teaching them.

Music is an efficient and tactical way of encouraging creativity but sustaining boundaries and rules when necessary.  If more of our education departments in this country realized the tremendous benefits of music education and arts a s a whole, we would be, once again, one of the most innovative countries around the world.

If you would like to join us in our quest for music advocacy and save music education in schools, click here to donate and help us fund another project for a school in need.  We assure you that you won’t be disappointed in the results.

Invest in our future, by investing in our children.  Invest in their creativity and invest in the activities that allow them to grow in precision but also leave room for interpretation and self discovery.

Thank you for helping us keep music education in schools!