For several weeks, four student musicians would meet in Ms. Cronin’s art room while other IB DP students were planning out their Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS) projects due in January. The CAS project is an essential part of the IB programme that encourages students to actively engage with the world around them to become well-rounded individuals. The quartet would assemble themselves in the corner of the art room, alongside the pottery equipment and clay pots in various stages of completion, to rehearse for an event benefiting young women in Africa. In true jazz form, the students would play around with different pieces of music and just see where it took them. What they learned later was that it took them places they weren’t expecting to go.
Joshua Lee is a classically trained musician and a Woodlands High School senior in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP). Joshua was presented with an opportunity to perform as a soloist at a benefit on September 28th supporting African Women’s Educational Fund (AWEF), a grassroots not-for-profit organization whose mission is to combat poverty in the developing world by educating young women and addressing educational needs of women attending secondary school and professional schools in Angola, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. “When I learned more about AWEF, I really connected to their mission. Education for all is a priority that I hold deeply in my heart,” said Joshua. “It’s a gift to be able to think about pursuing college when others are not gifted with the opportunity to even attend secondary school. I learned that many of the students often get the ability to become teachers and nurses, giving back to the community they came from.” The more Joshua thought about it, the more he realized it would be a great idea for a CAS project. “This project had more impact than meets the eye. Music has always been a passion of mine, and I enjoy performing as a way to share it with others,” he said. “Performing for the greater good brought more meaning to what I already love doing. Because of this, I realized this was a great opportunity to involve others.” Ms. Cronin is the IB CAS project advisor for students in IB DP. “It’s not surprising that Joshua turned this opportunity into something greater, well ahead of the curve” she said. “He has a unique ability to approach his work with thoughtfulness, diligence, and confidence. Once he has a vision, he makes a plan to bring it to fruition.”
Joshua’s first step was to assemble a team. “It was kind of like the first Avengers movie where Tony Stark recruits and assembles a team,” he said. And so, the AWEF Jazz Ensemble was born with Treyson Thulsuma on trumpet, Theodore Forbes on trombone, and Saintcom Chauvette on keyboards. As for Joshua, he chose to play the cello as a bass. All of the students are naturally musical, which is evident when you hear them play, yet each has had different levels of instruction. Theordore and Treyson started playing instruments in the fourth grade, Joshua studies piano at the Manhattan School of Music, and Saintcom is self-taught. “This opportunity opened me up to learning more about jazz. I’m more used to playing gospel,” said Saintcom. “We’re from two different sides of the earth,” joked Joshua. “I’m more classical, and Saintcom has more of a soul style. As a classical pianist, I have to give him credit because he is very skilled.”
The AWEF CAS project performance went beyond showcasing the students’ natural musical abilities; it created an added opportunity to be risk-takers. “This experience was definitely unlike any other that I had previously experienced. Although I am a member of the New York Youth Symphony Chamber program, there is a stark difference between Jazz and Classical. However, the listening and leadership skills definitely transferred over,” said Joshua. In some ways for Treyson, it was akin to taking a leap of faith. “At first, the fact that we were playing standards without the music sheets was scary to me, but it ended up helping me build trust in myself and the others. It was also great to hear each other play in a setting outside of school with instruments I don’t normally see them playing,” he said. “My biggest takeaway from the experience was that it’s always great to take any opportunity you can, no matter how far out of your comfort zone it is. Even though I’ve never played jazz in a setting like this, if I hadn’t taken Joshua’s offer, I’d have no idea how much I missed out on.”
For the ensemble members, the component of service had a double meaning. Their performance was not only an activity; it was providing a service to others who were in the act of service. “This experience reinforced the need to do what you can to help other people feel happier, if even for a brief moment. It was nice to see people engaged in what we were playing and smiling or talking about how great it sounded after we finished performing,” he said. “On top of that, the fact that so many people came out to support and donate money to young women in Africa shows the importance of giving back, not just to your local community, but also to communities around the world.” Saintcom shared a similar reflection on the impact of the experience. “There was one piece we performed - Autumn Leaves - where I really felt the freedom it gave us to express how we were feeling and opened us up to different creative opportunities,” he said. “My biggest takeaway from the evening was being able to do something outside my comfort zone and that sometimes just making small changes can have a positive impact on someone’s life.”
What could be considered an unlikely connection that Joshua made between the Avengers and the AWEF Jazz Ensemble becomes crystal clear in hindsight. After all, what would Tony Stark do if he was a classically trained musician who wanted to assemble a team of musicians in support of others? He would enlist the best of the best - others who are also human superheroes, just like him.