Do you have musical instruments shelved in a basement corner or back closet gathering dust?
Here is an opportunity to put them in the hands of an underserved child or youth and help maximize their prospects.
The St. Albert United Church is hosting the 10th annual Harvest Dinner Fundraiser, a sold-out event on Saturday, Oct. 5 featuring a live auction, catered meal, wine game and live local entertainment.
This year’s entertainment is Morinville’s classical vocalist Sofiya Chvojka and The Melisizwe Brothers, a Leduc-based international pop trio that have a knack for rekindling the Motown Sound.
It is brothers, Marc (16), Seth (13) and Zachary (12) who are stepping up to collect underused, quality musical instruments and redistribute them.
Music is their passion and they hope to change the trajectory of people’s lives with this uplifting and life-changing gift of music. The trio hopes to spread passion for music and become a full-time force for good in the musical community.
The instrument collection is part of the Gold Mind Initiative, a multi-prong project they established in 2018 to help other children and youth develop their potential and encourage positivity.
“That’s the mentality we have. And we know everybody has a gift,” said Marc. “For people who can’t afford to buy their own instruments, we have some. But they have to be willing to move forward and accomplish different things.”
Through the brothers’ expanding talent, seamless harmonies, clever arrangements and personal charm, they’ve been invited on the Ellen Degeneres Show, joined Steve Harvey as winners at Showtime at the Apollo and toured the Caribbean.
Marc states that he started playing piano at age three, and added classical vocal training at six. By age 10, he’d switched to guitar.
However the concept of a band didn’t materialize until Leslie, a friend of their mother’s, gave Seth a small electronic keyboard.
“Music had saved her life and she gave Seth the musical instrument to inspire him,” Marc explained.
Zachary added, “The music made her feel protected.”
By the time the two younger self-taught brothers were four and five, they were playing pop classics. At this point, the trio secretly started jamming.
“Music is pretty fun. Our parents didn’t know it was taking off,” said Seth.
But their career did take off and the brothers are hoping to help other young musicians pursue their dreams.
Currently, their collection stands at several guitars, a cello, violin, accordion, recorders, harmonica, ukuleles and trumpets. So far, they’ve delivered three trumpets, a trombone and a ukulele.
Anyone is welcome to add an instrument to the give-a-away collection by bringing it to St. Albert United Church, 7 Green Grove Drive, on Saturday, Oct. 5, whether they are attending the Harvest Dinner Fundraiser or not.
Request for instruments are made online at themelisizwebrothers.com or by email at [email protected].
Donations for St. Albert Food Bank will also be gratefully accepted by the church.
