PATERSON, NJ – Paterson McDonald’s Owner/Operator Angela Adderley used the occasion of the grand reopening of her 160 Market Street store to present a $10,000 donation to further the music education of a number of the district’s student musicians
The funding, presented to the Jazz House Kids Founder and President Melissa Walker will allow six to eight Paterson Public Schools students, ages 12 to 18, to attend Jazz House Kids’ music education programs in Montclair.
“At McDonald’s, we firmly believe in the importance of supporting our communities, and as we reopen the doors of our Market Street location, we’re so pleased to serve our local customers and reconnect with this wonderful community once more,” Adderley said. “As a McDonald’s owner/operator for nearly 27 years, I am proud to work with organizations like Jazz House Kids that are making a positive difference by providing children in our community with opportunities to further their musical education.”
Among the programs the district’s students will have access to with the help of the funding is the Summer at the Jazz House Sessions, which will be held from June 6 to July 22. These sessions will include in-person weekly ensembles that focus on improvisation and skill-based classes that will be held in-person and online.
“I want to thank Angela Adderley for making this scholarship funding possible and Melissa Walker for her dedication to the music education of Paterson Public Schools students,” Superintendent of Schools Eileen Shafer said. “After many years of budget cuts to arts education, Paterson Public Schools has depended on partnerships with organizations like Jazz House Kids to help fill the void those budget cuts have left behind. This funding will help some of the district’s motivated students to realize their potential more fully as musicians through Jazz House Kids’ excellent music education programs.”
There will also be a two-week intensive Summer at the Jazz House Workshop that will be held at Montclair State University in August. The workshop will be led by Artistic Director and seven-time GRAMMY-winning bassist Christian McBride, Walker’s husband, and Summer Workshop Director Ted Chubb. Students will receive top-notch instruction to develop key skills, including enhanced knowledge of fundamentals and jazz performance.
“It has been an honor to partner with the district to help bring music instruction back into the classroom and put instruments in the hands of young people,” Walker said. “We feel that jazz and jazz education can be a real gateway to happiness and long-term success, and we are enormously grateful to Angela Adderley for the great infusion of support for Paterson Public Schools students to access our after-school and summer programs at the Jazz House. When entrepreneurs and strong leaders partner with schools and nonprofits, great things happen in the community.”
In January, JAZZ HOUSE KiDS launched the Music Scholars Program at the Senator Frank Lautenberg School, where 54 middle school students are receiving music instruction twice a week after school. JAZZ HOUSE KiDS has a long history of working with Paterson students, with the Rosa L. Parks School of Fine and Performing Arts jazz band participating in its annual “Inside the Jazz Note” program, where McBride and special guests would conduct an all-day masterclass for high school students and their music teachers in the region.
Adderley’s husband, Nat Adderley, Jr., is a Grammy nominated artist who had worked as musical director for the late Luther Vandross. He is also the nephew of legendary jazz saxophonist Julian Edwin “Cannonball” Adderley.