Cresskill High School senior Liza Sobel thought of New Orleans as the birthplace of jazz, so she was stunned to find that most students her age there had little access to music education — especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
"It's so sad that they can't play the music that New Orleans started," Sobel said.
A dedicated musician herself, Sobel couldn't imagine life without music. She started an instrument drive in her junior year to boost her own school's music program. This year, she decided to do the same for New Orleans.
In February, Sobel sent 50 instruments to the Algiers Technology School, a new charter school in New Orleans. She made her shipment part of a larger shipment organized by the student council at Northern Valley Regional High School, which included books, sports equipment and school supplies. She plans to send a second shipment of instruments in May and is looking for more donations.
"A lot of people just have instruments lying around the house," Sobel said. "They're happy to have someone to donate to. Especially to New Orleans. The second they find out it's going there, they're thrilled."
Sobel picks up the instruments at donors' homes or nearby public drop points. She also provides receipts for tax deductions.
Richie Bertran of Fair Lawn donated a clarinet, a flute and many volumes of piano music, all of which had belonged to his grown daughters.
"I was trying to decide whether to sell them," he said. "It's a good cause and a great idea on Liza's part."
Bertran's daughters, Nicole and Danielle, are 30 and 26, respectively. Their instruments had sat unused in the basement since their high school years.
Sobel put Bertran's instruments in storage for a few months before she was able to ship them, along with guitars, accordions, violins and other instruments. One drum set dominated her family's foyer until last month. She hopes to fill the house again by May and help other schools in New Orleans.
Algiers Technology School would not have been able to even think about starting a music program without Sobel's help, said Adam Brumer, who teaches social studies there.
"There's just not a lot of money for that," Brumer said.
[Left: A New Orlean school after the hurricane.]
The school opened in August to replace schools lost in the hurricane, but with no music program. It is now looking into hiring a music instructor, with the intention of creating a band to perform in next year's Mardi Gras parade.
Brumer is in his first year with Teach for America, a federal program that places recent college graduates as teachers in low-income communities. He said he was shocked by the lack of music education when he arrived. A piano student from the age of 5, he started studying the trumpet when he learned about his teaching assignment during his last year at Cornell College in Iowa.
"It didn't occur to me that my students didn't have the same musical opportunities that I had," said Brumer, who grew up in California.
When the first shipment arrived with two trumpets donated by the Sam Ash music store, one of Brumer's eager student aides startled the entire school by blowing into an instrument and making a loud noise. At 14, he had never touched a trumpet before, but is now planning to learn.
"At a time when students are dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder and a lot of negative things like violence and drug abuse, music is another way we can keep them off the streets," Brumer said.
In comparison, Sobel said she was fortunate to study piano, voice and composition as a child. But she credits her school music program for providing her with creative opportunity. She picked up the baritone horn, or euphonium, in seventh-grade band class.
"If I hadn't had that class, I would not be able to try such an unusual instrument," she said.
Contact Liza Sobel at 201-567-7549 or e-mail her at giveinstruments @optonline.net to arrange pickups or drop-offs.
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Adam Brumer attended Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa.
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