The Founder of Instruments of Change, which aims to profoundly impact the lives of disadvantaged children through the gifts of musical instrument donation. They have also done events that have featured some of the artists that have been interviewed on our show. An entrepreneur, Glen, himself, plays guitar and piano and a number of other instruments, albeit recreationally.
“Part of what we bring to our kids is that kind of knowledge; that there is something you can do with your music and your talent.”
“To have somebody like Caroline (Kole) involved is tremendous because she is a young, rising star… so to have somebody that these kids – ya’ know, we are teaching these kids at ten, eleven, twelve years old – to see somebody who isn’t in their 40s or 50s or 60s, somebody who’s just a few years older than they are, working hard and seeing results from that effort, it’s exciting. The kids are really inspired by that.”
“When somebody is seen as a public figure, whether it’s an entertainer or an actor or somebody, the world begins to pull on them. It’s a give me, give me, give me kind of concept. They think, ‘Oh you’ve got the money.’ But the reality is they’ve worked hard to get where they are, and, I fall back a lot on my business experience. We’ve always come to artists with ‘Here’s what we have to offer.’”
“I think that’s a critical component with non-profits; find a way to partner with businesses where you are a benefit to them, you’re not a drag on them. And eventually they’ll see your commitment to your children or commitment to your project and they’ll say ‘What can I do?’”
“I’ve been in business. Like they say, I can lose money. There’s not an emotional tie to money. But with the kids if we make a commitment to stick with them through the entire school year, we have to have the funds in place the day we make the promise, not hope they come in because just like in business, hope is not a strategy.”
“Students who learn to play a musical instrument do better in math, they do better in language, they do better in cognitive reasoning, they do better in areas of self-esteem, lower drug and alcohol involvement, and much higher high school graduation rates.”
“There are a ton of revenue sources out there. You just have to be creative to find them. And they’re not always about a donor. Sometimes it’s about an artist creating something to sell. Sometimes it’s a silent auction item. There’s a variety of ways.”
“When these kids get to sixth grade and they’ve come out of fifth grade having learned to play an instrument, they already play as well as a lot of the seventh graders. So when they walk into sixth grade band and they can read the music and play a scale, the band director notices and then this becomes a go-to kid.”
“I grew up in a musical family. Ya’ know, our last name is Schubert and there’s a famous old composer by that name. My father was a concert pianist – played with the Philadelphia Philharmonic early on… We all had to learn an instrument… and now I’m really glad that we did. I play piano, I play guitar, and a number of other instruments and every day – I play every day.”