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the Savings issue

established guidelines for storage, repair, use and supervision of donated equipment in order to remain active in the program. Needless to say, the availability of these quality instruments and associated resources provided by the Foundation has enabled band directors to expand their programs in a dramatic fashion, and in many cases, allowed bands to even exist.

an Instrument for Change by Brad Gottsegen + photo by Erika Goldring

W hen visitors from outside the Gulf Coast are asked about what’s drawn them to travel to our beautiful state, two of the inevitable answers are food and music. Louisianians are fiercely protective of our culture, and because of its importance to our tourism industry as well as to those of us that love to eat and to listen to music, great strides have been made in recent years to encourage our youth to carry on our traditions into future generations. In 1997, when the world famous music club in New Orleans, Tipitina’s, was faced with the choice of either closing or moving on, local businessman and philanthropist Roland von Kurnatowski rescued the club with the intention of using revenue from it as a means to promote and propagate our musical heritage. This led to the establishment in 2003 of the Tipitina’s Foundation, and the Foundation has been giving back to our community ever since. Foundation operations began in New Orleans and are based there, but tremendous growth has allowed program resources to be available through offices in Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Alexandria, Shreveport and Monroe as well. According to Bethany Paulsen, Executive Director, the original intention of the Tipitina’s Foundation was to use funding (all net proceeds from operation of the club go directly to the Foundation) to provide band instruments to New Orleans public schools. This led to the establishment of Instruments A Comin’, a program currently valued at over $3 million.The Foundation purchases new instruments through partnering manufacturers and New Orleans Music Exchange and donates them to participating schools.Ninety- five schools across the state are currently receiving instruments, 70 of which are in New Orleans. Participating schools must follow

In recent years, however, the Tipitina’s Foundation has broadened its scope by adding several wonderful initiatives. Twice a month, at the Tipitina’s music club, Sunday Youth Music Workshops are held, giving students a chance to build on what they’re already learning in school by working together as well as with well-known local professional musicians.These workshops are free and open to any middle and high school students, and have attracted instructors as diverse as drummer Johnny Vidacovich, Wendell Brunious of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and members of Dumpstafunk, Galactic, and the Neville Brothers. For more focused students, the Tipitina’s Internship Program, led by artistic director Donald Harrison, assists participants in moving forward with college plans focused on music education and performance and/or professional careers in music. Recently, a partnership has been forged with the famed Berklee School of Music in Boston, which provides scholarships to attend summer programs as well as full academic years at Berklee. Notable alumni of this fantastic program are Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and Jon Batiste (the recently- announced musical director of the upcoming The Late Show with Stephen Colbert). Other programs include Tips on the Tarmac, which provides live music for travelers to enjoy throughout Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans, ELLA, a pro bono legal service that assists musicians and creative professionals with complicated issues such as copywriting and contracts, and the Instrument Repair Initiative, whereby used instruments can be donated and shipped free to New Orleans, where they are refurbished (the program technician is Stafford Agee, trombonist

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MY ROUSES EVERYDAY SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2015