Students Share the Gi of Music

When sophomore Aria Kutty rst played the ukelele at All Behaviors Considered, a school for children on the autism spectrum, there was something about that experience that stuck with her. She knew she wanted it to continue, Kutty recalled.

Inspired by the experience, Kutty created Music for a Cause, an Upper School service club that seeks to inspire children through musical performances and handson instruction. Another part of the group’s mission is to raise funds to increase music’s accessibility through providing instruments to underprivileged children.

“We perform for kids around the area to raise money for schools without music programs or instruments that they may not be able to a ord,” Kutty said.

Kutty grew up playing the piano and taught herself the guitar and ukulele. Her love for music and support from other students encouraged her to create Music for a Cause. Joining her in this e ort have been sophomores Brynn Zawadzki, Sydney Chien, Aditi Vikram and Cassie Rosa.

“I would play for fun, and I thought other people would enjoy it as well,” Kutty said. “I wanted to give people the opportunity to perform and help foster that same love for music.”

When she was rst shaping her idea for the club last November, Kutty’s rst move was to email Director of Service Learning and Community Engagement Jessica Chu.

“I had a whole two-page document outlining what I wanted to do,” Kutty said.

Another issue was determining the allotment of service hours, a graduation requirement for Upper School students.

“It’s tricky because you don’t want to give hours for planning, but for actual net action,” Kutty said.

Once she received approval, Kutty began her search for faculty sponsors and students to ll o cer positions. Upper School English teacher Andy Mercurio was the rst person she thought of because of his love for music.

“I’ve known Mr. Merc for years, and he’s really into music,” Kutty said. “He was thrilled and suggested [Upper School math teacher Charlie] Janicki as a second adult sponsor.”

Drawn immediately to Music for a Cause, Mercurio was fascinated with how the club had intertwined music with service to children in need.

“To me, music is an element – it predates humanity,” Mercurio said. “It’s an essential natural – maybe supernatural – force of unity. It’s one of those things that can move mountains, help one individual or a billion. Music and service belong together. You combine those two things and the idea of doing something bigger than you by using something bigger than you.”

Moving forward, Mercurio said he hopes to aid Music for a Cause in its mission of increasing music access and awareness.

“A lot of the time, inexplicably, the rst thing to go [in school budget cuts] is the music program,” Mercurio said. “But by giving these kids back music, we can spread the joy that is so essential to human understanding of self and expression of self.”

Kutty said that Greenhill’s built-in club meeting time, cooperation in planning oncampus events and connection with nearby George Herbert Walker Bush Elementary School made it easy to make her idea a reality.

“We are working toward performing at Bush at some point,” Zawadzki said.

A typical performance features casual music in an informal atmosphere, with sets lasting about an hour.

“We’ve done one at [All Behaviors Considered] and we played Christmas and holiday music,” Kutty said in January as the group was planning its upcoming schedule. “But we are planning an event on Jan. 24 where we play well-known songs, sell pizza outside the Lecture Hall and have students from around campus just come listen. We might get to have some teachers play as well. en all the money will go toward our fund, which we send to schools.” e Jan. 24 event was rescheduled to mid-February, but the goals remain the same: acclimating group members to performing on a public stage while building student interest in Music for a Cause.

Senior So a Valli, a club member, says the group allows people to bond over a common interest while serving the community.

To me, music is an element – it predates humanity. It’s an essential natural – maybe supernatural –force of unity.”

“For people that aren’t in band or orchestra, there aren’t a lot of opportunities to enjoy music in a casual setting,” Valli said. “I get to see people that wouldn’t normally talk brought together by the joy of music and put it toward something good.”

Music for a Cause is also appealing because of the opportunities for selfexpression and service, Vallie said.

“I was always very quiet, so my way of expression was through music,” Valli said. “Whether I am by myself or in a room with 100 people, it doesn’t matter – it’s my way of letting people know who I am.”

Music for a Cause is also planning to perform through a North Texas Food Bank organization called HungerMitao, which focuses on raising hunger awareness.

“Our rst performance with [All Behaviors Considered] was very early on, like in the rst week of us being founded,” Kutty said. “We were very proactive with that, and I think we are setting a great trajectory.” e end goal of the organization is to spread joy in the community through music.

“We want to expand from doing stu just at Greenhill and move into the Dallas community as a whole,” Kutty said. “I think there are a lot of really talented kids in the Dallas area who have never had the opportunity to use their talent to make a di erence, so expanding [to other schools] would be awesome.”