HARLEM — When cellist Patrice Jackson began playing a snippet of a piece by Bach — or, better yet, an instrumental of Alicia Keys’ 2003 hit “If I Ain’t Got You” — the dozen students in attendance looked somewhat incredulous.
But as she carefully glided her bow through her cello’s strings — demonstrating the highs and lows of the instrument — the children lit up.
Jackson, a Julliard-trained cellist who has worked with musicians ranging from Kanye West to Stevie Wonder to Keys — was aiming to teach the students not only the joys of music but the importance of music education.
Jackson performed for a group of middle schoolers Tuesday at Harlem’s Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change, signaling a milestone in the school’s burgeoning music education program.
“I’ve been able to travel around the world all because of a piece of wood and four strings,” she told the students.
“I’m challenging all of you, in order to do all that fun stuff, you need to know your instrument. You have to put in the work.”
Before last year, the school had a waning music education curriculum, said principal Sean Davenport.
“We had music teachers but not a music program,” he said. “Usually when you walk in these schools they are strapped for cash.
“Now someone may walk out today wanting to play the cello.”
Seventh-grader David Wiggins, 13, said over the past year he has learned to play the piano and drums, but the cello and viola peaked his interest.
And David, along with many of his classmates, will get the opportunity to learn how to play those instruments.
VH1 Save The Music Foundation, the longstanding nonprofit that funds music education programs in public schools across the country, brought Jackson to perform and donated $35,000 to gift dozens of violins, cellos and violas to the school’s music program.
The foundation received funding from Tylenol to make donations to schools throughout the country, said Chiho Feindler, a representative for the foundation.
Thurgood Marshall was the second school in the city to receive funding this year, she said. The other school was in The Bronx.
Part of the reason the school was chosen was the passion of the principal and the school’s music teacher, Catherine Dennis, who the principal said was central to transforming the school’s music education.
“It’s a magic combination,” Feindler said.
Dennis, who has training as a violinist, said the donation will help the growth of the program and the confidence of the students.
“I think it’s about getting them out there and exposing them to things they’ve never been exposed to before,” she said.
“For this community of students, it’s important for someone to carve the way forward for them.”
