Thursday, August 30, 2007 at 12:12am
Musicians in harmony to help others
Column: Executive Soul
Two years ago yesterday, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. Grieving over the loss of New Orleans' rich musical heritage, The Edge, U2's lead guitarist, dared to dream that the music of New Orleans could be restored. He partnered with well-known producer Bob Ezrin and Henry Juszkiewicz, CEO of Gibson Guitar, and, by pooling their influence, skills and contacts, the three began to build a network. They dared to dream that competitors in the music industry could come together for a worthy cause, and they invited participation from musicians, instrument manufacturers, ticket sales companies and others.
As they shared their vision with one another and brainstormed possible names, Henry's wife, Caroline, suggested Music Rising, and The Edge and Bob said, "That's it!" They then came up with the tag line, "Rebuilding the Gulf Coast, note by note." The logo, designed by well-known designer Bill Cathcart, followed: a musical note nested between phoenix wings flapping and rising.
Surveying the destruction in New Orleans, The Edge knew that he needed to start by finding hope and inspiring it in others. He found hope by remembering the music of New Orleans, by being inspired by the power and creativity of the musicians there. He found hope by noting the resiliency of the musicians who had overcome obstacle after obstacle over the years — obstacles of poverty, racism, musical snobbery — to establish the musical genres of jazz and blues. He found hope by remembering the generosity of U2 fans, who had already given themselves wholeheartedly to such causes as Amnesty International, Greenpeace and HIV/AIDS relief in Africa, when those causes had been endorsed by U2. And finally, he found hope by meeting the people themselves when he toured New Orleans and other Gulf Coast areas in late 2005, listened to their stories of devastation and heard their hopes for restoration and renewal.
In April 2006, The Edge, Henry and Bob helped to reopen Preservation Hall in New Orleans and presented new instruments to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The next day The Edge and the Music Rising team toured the Lower Ninth Ward and, stunned at how little had changed in the four months since The Edge's previous visit, vowed to redouble their aid efforts. Moved by the courageous role that churches play in the community, The Edge announced soon thereafter that Music Rising's Phase II also would donate instruments to schools and churches whose music programs had been decimated by Katrina.
Music Rising, to date, has put instruments back into the hands of 2,500 professional musicians, and has aided 30,000 students and parishioners. Twenty-one school music programs and 41 church music programs are back on their feet. Perhaps most remarkably of all, competing factions of the music industry have demonstrated unprecedented cooperation.
Two years after Katrina, with the need still great, The Edge and the Music Rising team have recommitted themselves to helping. The Edge commented, in a press release:
"On this second anniversary of the Katrina disaster it is apparent that we still have much to do. We will continue to support and stay focused on the needs of the musicians, schools and churches."
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Margaret Benefiel, Ph.D., author of "Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations," works with leaders in business, healthcare, government and non-profits to help them develop spiritual leadership. Visit her website at www.ExecutiveSoul.com. Copyright 2007 by Margaret Benefiel.
As they shared their vision with one another and brainstormed possible names, Henry's wife, Caroline, suggested Music Rising, and The Edge and Bob said, "That's it!" They then came up with the tag line, "Rebuilding the Gulf Coast, note by note." The logo, designed by well-known designer Bill Cathcart, followed: a musical note nested between phoenix wings flapping and rising.
Surveying the destruction in New Orleans, The Edge knew that he needed to start by finding hope and inspiring it in others. He found hope by remembering the music of New Orleans, by being inspired by the power and creativity of the musicians there. He found hope by noting the resiliency of the musicians who had overcome obstacle after obstacle over the years — obstacles of poverty, racism, musical snobbery — to establish the musical genres of jazz and blues. He found hope by remembering the generosity of U2 fans, who had already given themselves wholeheartedly to such causes as Amnesty International, Greenpeace and HIV/AIDS relief in Africa, when those causes had been endorsed by U2. And finally, he found hope by meeting the people themselves when he toured New Orleans and other Gulf Coast areas in late 2005, listened to their stories of devastation and heard their hopes for restoration and renewal.
In April 2006, The Edge, Henry and Bob helped to reopen Preservation Hall in New Orleans and presented new instruments to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The next day The Edge and the Music Rising team toured the Lower Ninth Ward and, stunned at how little had changed in the four months since The Edge's previous visit, vowed to redouble their aid efforts. Moved by the courageous role that churches play in the community, The Edge announced soon thereafter that Music Rising's Phase II also would donate instruments to schools and churches whose music programs had been decimated by Katrina.
Music Rising, to date, has put instruments back into the hands of 2,500 professional musicians, and has aided 30,000 students and parishioners. Twenty-one school music programs and 41 church music programs are back on their feet. Perhaps most remarkably of all, competing factions of the music industry have demonstrated unprecedented cooperation.
Two years after Katrina, with the need still great, The Edge and the Music Rising team have recommitted themselves to helping. The Edge commented, in a press release:
"On this second anniversary of the Katrina disaster it is apparent that we still have much to do. We will continue to support and stay focused on the needs of the musicians, schools and churches."
— — —
Margaret Benefiel, Ph.D., author of "Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations," works with leaders in business, healthcare, government and non-profits to help them develop spiritual leadership. Visit her website at www.ExecutiveSoul.com. Copyright 2007 by Margaret Benefiel.