Check Presentation Ceremony for $15,000 grant takes place at The Sportsmens Tavern at 7 pm on Tuesday, April 1
In its continuing dedication to fostering and promoting music education programs and initiatives in Buffalo and Western New York, and thereby deepening access to (and appreciation of) Americana music in all its forms throughout the region, SAMF kicked off the new year by announcing the renewal of a collaboration between our foundation, the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation’s Arts & Culture Initiative, and the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, in support of the Pappy Martin Legacy Jazz Collective and its Love Supreme School of Music, a community music school serving students on Buffalo’s East Side.
A Check Presentation Ceremony will take place during SAMF’s monthly Foundation Night at the Sportsmen’s Tavern (326 Amherst St.) on Tuesday, April 1, at 7 pm. Pappy Martin Jazz Legacy Collective/Love Supreme School of Music Chief Executive and Buffalo Urban League 2024 Community Leader Award recipient Dawn Martin Berry-Walker, and Love Supreme School of Music Director Marcus Lolo will speak during the ceremony, which will also include a performance by Buffalo’s Twang Gang.
In late December, SAMF awarded a $15,000 grant to the Pappy Martin Legacy Jazz Collective to support the organization’s general operating costs, including those associated with maintaining and running the Love Supreme School of Music. This is the second year running that SAMF has teamed with the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo to award a grant to the Love Supreme School.
The school, founded in 2003, was named after the iconic, transcendental John Coltrane composition A Love Supreme, and has been offering music lessons and mentorship to predominantly school-age children free of charge in the time since.
Currently, the school serves in the area of 100 predominately African American young people with instrumental and vocal instruction, along with exposure to the history and culture of jazz, one of the deepest strains of Americana music.
Under the leadership of Chief Executive Director Dawn Martin Berry-Walker and the mentorship of Director Marcus Lolo, the Love Supreme School has displayed a tireless commitment to its ideals – ideals that are in line with our own core principles here at SAMF. Through its efforts, the School has effected real, tangible change in the community it serves. We’re proud to play a part in furthering these efforts.
According to Dawn Martin Berry-Walker, the Love Supreme School’s efforts employ music education and performance in service of the broader goal of providing students with life skills and personal wellness.
“The goal is to engage under-served members of the community, particularly school-age children, with instrumental and vocal lessons augmented by experiences to expand their knowledge, understanding and appreciation of music,” she says. “It embraces the idea that music is a universal language, familiar to young people and effective in garnering their attention.
“We incorporate the concept of improvisation and encourage it as a possible problem-solving consideration when confronted with other life challenges. Through the study of jazz, we expose students to creative and ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking and encourage incorporating them as reasonable approaches when faced with academic and social challenges.”
SAMF shares with Berry-Walker and her team the belief that immersion and education in music marks a concrete investment in our community’s future by changing the lives of young people in a deep, positive, and lasting manner.
