It’s a busy month for Pianos for People, the local nonprofit that provides refurbished pianos and lessons for free to those who otherwise couldn’t afford them.
The organization’s biggest fundraiser of the year, a benefit concert at The Sheldon, recently sold out. The Nov. 10 event, called An Evening of 100 Fingers, features acclaimed jazz pianist Peter Martin.
Pianos for People also recently announced the appointment of new executive director Matt Brinkmann, a St. Louisan who has an extensive background in nonprofit management and public service, as well as experience as a musician, performing on stage and recording in the studio. Brinkmann is a founding member of the Funky Butt Brass Band, and played the sousaphone for eight years, during which the band released three CDs and was voted Best Funk/Soul band in St. Louis several times.
Brinkmann tells Gazelle he hopes to expand the organization’s impact in the community.
“We have some capacity to grow the music schools—particularly at the Ferguson location—but we’re currently working more on improving the quality of our programs,” he said. “We feel that we can continue to expand our impact in the community by better identifying the needs of our families and forming new partnerships with other organizations working toward similar goals. We’re also trying to deepen our impact on our students by retaining them for longer commitments, and as a result, we’ve succeeded in having a record number of students stay with us through their introductory lessons and move on to a more advanced level this year.”
Brinkmann, who succeeds executive director Sheena Duncan, previously worked in a variety of roles at the Saint Louis Science Center, St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission, The Sheldon, Great Rivers Greenway and the Gateway Arch Park Foundation. He has been an active community volunteer for KDHX, the Regional Arts Commission and Tower Grove Park.
Pianos for People’s free music schools, located on Cherokee Street in south St. Louis and at the Ferguson First Baptist Church, provide lessons, workshops, summer camps, and community events to approximately 200 students each year. This year, it celebrated the distribution of its 272nd piano. Refurbished pianos are donated to soldiers with PTSD, isolated seniors, adults with anxiety and students in need who want to play. Royce Martin and Nicholas Murphy, two former students who discovered the key to an empowered life through the organization, are currently studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, respectively.
For more information, visit pianosforpeople.org.
