Newton teen Abigail Miller has worked hard to place instruments in the hands of needy kids who share her love of music.
Miller, 13, a student at Oak Hill Middle School, collected and donated musical instruments as part of her bat mitzvah project. She worked through the Berklee Instrument and Equipment Donation Program and the Berklee City Music program to donate more than 35 instruments to Boston public schools and community organizations. Among the items donated were wind instruments, violins, a drum set, keyboards, a cello and saxophones.
“We had a bunch of bat mitzvah meetings for Hebrew school, and one of the ideas was to choose something meaningful to you, and music immediately came to mind,” Miller said. “I want to make sure everybody can get the chance to enjoy music like I do.”
Miller made her last instrument drop Feb. 20 at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Since then, several local organizations have received Miller’s instruments. They include a Latin American youth group in Roxbury, Sociedad Latina, nonprofits such as Washtone Performing Arts in Dedham, and the Massachusetts branch of Measures for the Future, a music education organization made up of high school and college students.
“What we do is we teach and perform music to kids who usually don’t get the same chances to learn,” Derrick Chang, founder of Measures for the Future, said. “These instruments have given these kids a real chance at music education. Now we have the opportunity to give these students hands-on lessons.”
In the past, a shortage of instruments had made Measure for the Future’s mission of music education difficult. Since Miller’s donations, the organization has been able to provide instruments and more consistent lessons at the Wang YMCA in Chinatown and the Brockton Boys’ and Girls’ Club.
“Previously we’ve tried to teach musical concepts like rhythms, timing, and notes. This gives us another window through which we can teach the students,” Chang said. “Before, we would let them hold our instruments or teach verbally, but we keep these new instruments at the locations so they get the chance to get ongoing lessons and gain experience.”
Abria Smith, associate director of community affairs and campus engagement at Berklee College, oversees the delivery of donated instruments. She said Miller’s project was both effective and unusual.
“She had a very successful drive,” Smith said. “We don’t usually get that many donations from one place. This has been the first time I’ve had the opportunity to deal with a project like this.”
Smith said the response to Miller’s project has been overwhelmingly positive.
“As the person who is actually there to give the folks the instruments, I can say people get really excited,” Smith said. “These are instruments in their second life, but they have life. It’s like they’re receiving Christmas presents, that’s how excited they are. Some people just don’t have the funding. This has been an opportunity to allow them to have their programs grow.”
For Miller, sharing her passion for music was the most rewarding part of the project.
“I just felt good to see kids be able to receive instruments and enjoy them,” Miller said. “I love music, and I hope that anyone who would like to play would be able to. When I met with some of the people to pick up the instruments, some of them were so happy to contribute and help. It was so nice that these people gave up their instruments to give them to good people.”
Miller’s love of music began early on. Between third and fourth grade, she began taking lessons with Cercie Miller (no relation), a saxophone instructor and assistant professor at Berklee. Cercie noticed her student’s drive immediately.
“I was impressed right away with how motivated she was, how quick she was to grasp things, and what a great attitude she had,” Cercie said. “Sometimes I can tell from when I introduce the concept of improvisation to students, which I try to do almost right away, and she took to it right away.”
Cercie, who also fronts a jazz outfit called The Cercie Miller Quartet, helped devise the donation project. She said that although she played an early part in bringing the project to fruition, the brunt of the work was done independently by Abigail.
“In terms of the instrument donation project, all I did was help formulate the project and put her in touch with the right people,” Cercie said. “Everything else has been her own work and her own effort.”
From there, Abigail pursued a rigorous collection campaign, including flyers and Internet postings.
“I started by putting up flyers at local coffee shops and restaurants,” Abigail said. “I got a few instruments that way. In addition to that, I went on craigslist and I put up a posting that asked for instruments. I got so many responses that way. I also looked for postings on craigslist that were free or at a low price. The ones that weren’t free, I negotiated over email to get them for free. I made a blog and used it as a regular Web page and wrote about the project on it so I didn’t have to explain it a million times. I linked to that in emails and made an email (address) for the project.”
After she had finished collecting instruments, they were dropped off at Berklee. Her bat mitzvah, which took place March 9, was themed “jazz club.” For Miller, a project that involved music was the obvious choice from the start.
Miller’s instruments continue to be donated to schools and community organizations in Greater Boston, in hopes of exposing more and more people to an enriching musical experience.
“I think that music can just open so many kinds of doors for any person. It takes you into a realm outside of the academic, outside of normal stresses of life,” Cercie Miller said. “It’s a language and a part of life, and to be fluent in that language is something you can draw on your entire life. Whatever you put into the study of music, you get back times 10 in terms of creativity.”
Joseph Dussault is an undergraduate student in the Northeastern University School of Journalism.