Naples Daily News
They have their jazz band and their student band and an ensemble band, too.
But what Bonita Springs Middle Center for the Arts feels it's lacking is a band that plays for the people.
"Being a center for the arts, we want to connect," said Mary Blackmon, assistant principal of curriculum. "Bonita's a great little city, and we want to do this for them."
So now the community is pitching in to bring the idea to fruition. It will take $12,000 for the school to buy enough steel drums for 25 students to take part. So far, through grants and donations, they've raised — drum roll, please — about $9,000 toward that goal.
Cultural artistic diversity
"Bringing steel drums into our population, which is mostly Hispanic, I thought would bring a different genre and expose them to a completely different style of music," Sarah Rigney, band director, said. "We introduce them to jazz and classical music, but these kids are never going to hear — whether they're Hispanic or Caucasian — what steel drums are unless they look for it on TV or we have it on our program."
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