Jacobs Music Company Donates Keyboard To Settlement Music School Students

Jacobs Music Company, the Steinway & Sons dealer representative in the tri-state area with headquarters in Philadelphia, has long been a community supporter. During the Coronavirus Pandemic, they saw a need that they quickly filled for Settlement Music School. Because students who usually practice piano at one of the Settlement Music School branches did not have access to pianos, Jacobs donated 30 keyboards to the school for students to use in their homes.

In this photo, Robert Rinaldi, Senior Vice President Education of Jacobs, visited Settlement's main campus at 6th and Queen Streets in Philadelphia to present Tenay Brown, 13, and her mom, Latrisha Brown, with this new keyboard. He said, "When we heard about all the students who weren't able to practice piano we just had to help. Settlement Music School is one of the pillars of our musical community. If we want the same arts community that we had prior to the pandemic, we need to invest in them now."

Helen Eaton, Chief Executive Officer of Settlement Music School, gladly accepted this generous offer. She said, "Jacobs Music Company continually supports our students and the needs of our instructors but when Bob made this offer, we were overwhelmed with appreciation. We know how much the keyboards will be valued by our families."

Tenay Brown took ballet lessons at Settlement from 2011-2013 and is now enrolled in piano lessons this summer. Expressing herself through music is very important to her.

Eaton explained how the keyboards will be used. She said, "The goal right now is to first serve piano and creative arts therapy students enrolled in our summer session, and then we will reassess if there are additional keyboards needed to extend this to other students."

Settlement Music School is an inclusive creative community, dedicated to providing the highest quality arts education for all. Regardless of age, background, ability, or economic circumstances, there is a place for all at Settlement. The School offers 10,000 services every week in music, dance, visual arts, and arts therapy at its six branches and dozens of community partnerships across the region, and is proud to offer more than $2.6 million in financial aid each year to more than 60% of its student population, ages 6 months to 92 years. For more information, please visit www.settlementmusic.org.