Southwest Detroit band students, serenaded by pop stars, gifted new instruments by Ford Fund

Lily Altavena, Detroit Free Press
·2 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

The Academy of the Americas' gym was thrumming with the sound of trumpets, clarinets, trombones, saxophones and flutes in southwest Detroit.

Now the school is adding more than a dozen new instruments, thanks to a donation by the Ford Motor Company Fund and Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation. To celebrate the $20,000 worth of instruments donated, the school's seventh and eighth grade students on Thursday performed "De Colores," a traditional Spanish folk song, and "Havana" by pop singer Camila Cabello. Mau Y Ricky, a well-known Venezuelan pop duo, also serenaded the students to teenagers' excited shrieks.

Alonso Torrez, 12, one of the seventh graders who performed, started playing the saxophone because he said he likes jazz, and his uncle used to play the instrument.

"What I like about band is I can express myself through music, and nobody can judge you," he said.

Eighth-grader Jesus Guerrero Ramos, 13, plays the saxophone during a performance to celebrate a donation of dozens of new musical instruments from The Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation and Ford Motor Company Fund at Academy of the Americas in Detroit on Dec. 8, 2022.
Eighth-grader Jesus Guerrero Ramos, 13, plays the saxophone during a performance to celebrate a donation of dozens of new musical instruments from The Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation and Ford Motor Company Fund at Academy of the Americas in Detroit on Dec. 8, 2022.

Before the donation, Academy of the Americas was running out of instruments popular among students, such as trumpets, flutes and saxophones, leaving some members of the band with their second choice instrument, said Isabella Kercorian, 24, the school's band teacher.

More:Ford’s behind-the-scenes investment at Spelman College praised as success story

Academy of the Americas is a pre-kindergarten to 12th grade school, with two campuses in southwest Detroit. The school offers a dual language immersion program in Spanish and English, and the Tiger campus, where the performance was held, serves roughly 650 students, the majority of whom are Latino.

Kerrington Brown, 13, an eighth grader who plays the clarinet, said she hoped the donation would encourage other Academy students to join band.

Singer-songwriter brothers Ricardo Andrés "Ricky" Reglero Rodriguez and Mauricio Alberto "Mau" Reglero Rodriguez from the band Mau Y Ricky, pose for a photo with faculty and students at Academy of the Americas in Detroit on Dec. 8, 2022.
Singer-songwriter brothers Ricardo Andrés "Ricky" Reglero Rodriguez and Mauricio Alberto "Mau" Reglero Rodriguez from the band Mau Y Ricky, pose for a photo with faculty and students at Academy of the Americas in Detroit on Dec. 8, 2022.

"Being a school in Detroit, we don't get a lot, so an opportunity of getting new instruments ... It might interest new students to come in and join band and stuff," she said. "I think it'll make a big difference."

Kercorian, the band teacher, said the new instruments will continue to help foster the spirit and excitement that children bring to band class.

"The kids do the work and they help each other and they come in and always are passionate and trying their very best," she said.

Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ford Fund, cultural group donate thousands for instruments in Detroit