Mostly Blues

Music Doing Good presents Mostly Blues, a concert at Zilkha Hall, May 16 at 7:30pm.

The students of Music Doing Good in Schools, from Cummings Elementary, Stevenson Middle and Wheatley High Schools, have worked all year long learning about the blues, and their year culminates with a special performance at Houston's famous Zilkha Hall at the Hobby Center!

Audience members who attend Mostly Blues will witness the wide-ranging impact blues has had on popular music of the 20th Century and beyond. The production will also showcase blues’ origins in post-Civil War America.

The students of Music Doing Good in Schools present the backstory of the Blues set to the steady backbeat of the music. Participants learned about history, social issues, and music structure through studying the likes of Billie Holiday, Etta James, Ray Charles, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Muddy Waters and Nat King Cole, to name a few. Through their hard work and “hoo doo” over two semesters, these students present their own brand of boogie woogie. The myth of Blues as a soundtrack for hardship is dispelled for one evening as “Mostly Blues” promises to “let the good times roll!”

One of Music Doing Good’s four outreach programs, Music Doing Good in Schools engages children in an afterschool musical enrichment program designed to reach the whole child. This is the third year that Music Doing Good in Schools has offered the program to Title 1 Schools. They learn TEKS-aligned subject matter through music, dance, art and self-expression. The concept of learning subjects through music enables students to retain the information and connect to it in a memorable and impactful way. The program provides a safe place for exploration, enhances performance skills, educates, and builds self-confidence, as well as essential life skills such as leadership, teamwork, collaboration and public speaking.

Says Aisha Ussery, program director for Music Doing Good in Schools, “For the children who participate in the program, the direct correlation between this experience and life is that when you learn to be disciplined and committed to your artistry, you are simultaneously learning to be successful and committed to your life.” Students are required to learn the material, follow through with attendance and to be focused and present during rehearsals. Parents must commit to supporting their children in the program as well.

Adds Ussery, “Some of our children come from environments that tell them they will never amount to anything. Music Doing Good in Schools tells them that they can dream big and be successful. And they feel it when they step out onto that stage at The Hobby Center! When the community sees our youth on stage performing Mostly Blues on May 16, they will witness the transformative power of music.“