Arts group for kids opens window to world of jazz

Like most great things, the Arts Education for Children Group, or AECG, was born out of need and desire. Back in 1996, opportunities for quality arts education at Maui schools were limited; that was a concern Bryant Neal and Aimee Kimura shared with many other parents.

To help fill the gap, Neal and Kimura founded AECG as an arts-based after-school program at Sacred Hearts School in Lahaina. Funding came from donations, fundraisers, tuition and small grants. Students age 5 through 10 from any school were welcome to attend.

"The idea was to supplement children’s core subjects with a curriculum revolving around art, music, dance and drama," said Neal, who has served as AECG’s volunteer president and executive director since its inception. "I have a bachelor’s degree in theater, and the arts have played a significant role in my life. I wanted my daughter and other kids to experience the benefits of that, too."

Neal regards music as the voice of a culture. Moreover, he points out that to create a whole, balanced person, there must be both right-brain and left-brain stimulation. The arts are key to developing creative, or right-brain, functions.

"AECG’s goal was never to turn out Juilliard-caliber music students, but rather to provide the missing component that’s necessary for a child’s complete development," Neal said. "Countless studies have linked music and the arts to brain development."

One of his favorite activities is a musical "petting zoo" featuring woodwind, percussion, string and voice stations manned by experienced teachers. "It’s amazing how some children naturally grasp the violin correctly, get a sound from a trumpet or pick up rhythms on a drum," Neal said. "Most schools don’t offer band until the seventh grade, which is late for students who are serious about music to start playing an instrument."

The response to AECG was enthusiastic. Over the years, partnering with the state Department of Education, Maui County agencies, private schools and youth organizations such as the YMCA and Boys & Girls Club, the nonprofit 501(c)(3) group expanded its scope. Several Maui schools are now running arts programs on their own, enabling AECG to focus on summer enrichment series, which have spawned special events such as Jazz Maui, now in its third year.

Because of financial and geographical challenges, Hawaii students aren’t usually able to attend mainland music camps taught by quality instructors. In 2003, to solve that problem, AECG began collaborating with mainland music schools to offer summer programs on Maui.

"Those programs worked out really well because we found that mainland students wanted to come to Maui to participate, and the performances and workshops that were planned also attracted visitors who were vacationing on the island," Neal said. "Jazz Maui fills a void in Hawaii. Not many people here are familiar with jazz even though it’s a homegrown genre. It originated in African-American communities during the late 1800s and early 1900s and has been dubbed one of America’s original art forms."

Running a week, Jazz Maui includes a private fundraising dinner and classes, concerts and jam sessions that are open to the public. Those events feature internationally acclaimed visiting and local jazz musicians and music educators.

In the spotlight this year will be Grammy Award winners Arturo O’Farrill and Jim Seeley, and faculty from the University of Texas at Arlington’s jazz studies program.

This year Jazz Maui also includes a concert on Oahu by O’Farrill’s renowned sextet. "Arturo is regarded as the modern king of Latin jazz," Neal said. "He received his third Grammy this year. Jim is an outstanding trumpeter who has performed with Ray Charles, Maynard Ferguson and the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He’s a longtime member and featured soloist with Arturo’s band. It’s a major coup for us to have professionals of their reputation at Jazz Maui."

Reflecting America’s multiethnic population, jazz incorporates a wide range of music styles, from ragtime to rock to rhythm and blues. That complexity and frequent use of improvisation make jazz difficult to define and often to play for those first trying the genre.

"Jazz isn’t the type of music that lulls you to sleep," Neal said. "It’s unpredictable, it demands your attention, it inspires toe-tapping and moving in your seat. Jazz Maui is your ticket to that incredible carnival ride of sounds."

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.