The tent is up, the performers are arriving and most everything is set for another Sonoma Jazz+ weekend. If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, it’s not too late to do so. And did you know? When you plunk down your credit card for entrée into your favorite show, you’re not just getting top-notch entertainment, you’re helping fund music in the Valley’s schools.
Over the course of Sonoma Jazz+’s five-year run in the Valley, the nonprofit organization has donated more than $500,000 to our public school music programs. Through our own local organization, Sonoma Jazz+ in Schools, the money is filtered to a dizzying array of programs that most certainly wouldn’t exist without this level of support.
Bob Gossett is the beloved, district-wide music teacher at the elementary school level. He is also the paid coordinator of the Sonoma Jazz+ in Schools program, overseeing where funds are dispersed. Gossett stated that, unequivocally, only the most basic of music instruction would exist if we relied on funding from the school district. State budget cuts and an emphasis on standards-based testing have conspired to decimate music instruction, much to the detriment of our students and others in a similar situation nationwide.
Luckily for Sonoma, Jazz+ stepped up to fill in the gaps. As it stands today, there are at last count a dozen programs that are funded with support from Sonoma Jazz+ in Schools. Some of these programs are new and some have been in place for a while but many are unknown to all but the savviest of parents and community members.
For instance, Gossett says that one of the areas largest of funding is the ongoing support of the kindergarten through 12th grade music infrastructure. In a preliminary meeting five years ago, the Jazz+ folks asked what our schools needed to bring the music program up to the bare minimum. With the money received the district was able to purchase music stands, instruments and chorale risers for the high school. Another early investment in our students, an ongoing fund for summer instrument repair, an invaluable resource according to Gossett.
Another newer program is the year-round third-grade drumming and body rhythm class as well as an afterschool drumming enrichment program. Summer jazz camp for teens is paid for using Sonoma Jazz+ in Schools funding as is the recently held Sonoma Valley Gym Jam, the district-wide concert featuring third- through 12th-grade musicians and vocalists. The group also brings in visiting musicians to perform, provides support for the high school music department and runs the wildly popular Little Kids Rock program at local elementary school.
Maybe you saw one of two middle school musicals this spring. “The Lion King Revisited” played at Adele Harrison and “The Circle of Life, the Music and Story of The Lion King” took center stage at Altimira. Under the direction of Cat Austin and choreographer Amee Alioto, 30 students at each school learned to sing and dance and perform on stage – some for the very first time. Both performances were truly magic – and free to audience members, care of Jazz+ – and gave students an experience that shouldn’t be taken for granted.
So this year, even though times are tough and scraping together enough money to spend for a ticket to Earth Wine & Fire or your other favorite band seems extravagant, think less of yourself and more of our children. Fine musicians are rarely born. Rather, they’re nurtured, trained, taught to love and play music. And if we don’t teach them, who will?
