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9 6 The first groups of kids who received wind
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is no FEMA. There is work for a lifetime down there. The task is so humongous, people freeze. But if everyone tries, it’s going to make a big difference.” MonTès grEw up in HAiTi, And His inTErest in music started early. His father, an Episcopal priest, was known to have the best choir in the diocese, and Montès’ community gave him the tools he needed to become a world-class conductor and musician. decades later, working out of his offices at Loyola university and the gnoYo, Montès is leveraging his stateside success to give back something meaningful. His Haitian Youth Music relief program is grounded in the cultural and spiritual connections that have existed for centuries between Haiti and new orleans, and it mirrors his work as artistic director of the gnoYo. in his day job he serves as director of orchestral studies and coordinator of strings at Loyola, where he conducts three student orchestras. it was at Loyola that the idea for Haitian Youth Music relief arose spontaneously on the evening following last year’s earthquake. Montès had gathered his many Haitian students for
PhoTo by Wadner PIerre
mutual support, and to give them a chance to reflect on what happened. They spoke of the voices that were undoubtedly lost and resolved to do something to celebrate them. “in terms of relief, there’s what we think of as the primary needs — health, shelter, food,” Montès says. “But what happens next? what makes us feel human again when we’ve lost everything? it’s usually things like music.” Montès and many of his Haitian students first learned to play at the Holy Trinity Music school in port-au-prince, which was destroyed in the earthquake. “i grew up sharing a school instrument with three to five other students,” he says. “if i was still alive after the earthquake and someone showed up with an instrument and said it was mine, at first i wouldn’t believe it. it would make a huge impact on helping me cope with reality.” Montès started fundraising by sending a single letter to friends describing the need for good, functional instruments, asking recipients to pass around the letter. His idea was to start a grassroots movement and create one-on-one connections between donors and individual music students. The response was
7 World-renowned violinist Midori, named a Messenger of Peace by the United nations in 2007, played a concert with the Gnoyo at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing arts in 2010 as part of her Partners in Performance program. PhoTo coUrTesy GreaTer neW orLeans yoUTh orchesTra
8 Volunteers who traveled to haiti to deliver instruments include (l-r) Wadner Pierre, a haitian who is studying photojournalism at Loyola (and contributed many of the photos used here); Jethro celestin, a bassist and vocalist at Loyola; Godwin Louis, an alto saxophonist and Monk Institute fellow; sam Phillips, a bassist at Loyola; hisham alzoukaimi and Marjorie Garnier, violinists at Loyola; christina dominique-Pierre, a librarian for the Jefferson Parish Public Library; and Jean Montès, founder of haitian youth Music relief. 9 Montès conducts rehearsal with the Loyola chamber orchestra.
PhoTo by cheryL Gerber
10 a clock found in a collapsed school room at Trinity shows the time of the earthquake. PhoTo by roberT sTacke/ chaIrMan, sT aUGsbUrG coLLeGe, MInneaPoLIs
Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > febrUarY 08 > 2011
instruments from Montes’ group. “It was total disbelief,” he says. “They didn’t know I was coming. Lots of people showed up with food and shelter, but for those kids, this (playing instruments) was what they did before (the earthquake).”
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