by Mike Telin

In February of 2009, when British Airways pilot Jim Trott was helping to store 30 past-their-prime brass instruments that were destined for the scrap yard, he had the idea of finding a home for them on his next flight to Uganda. Today Brass for Africa, a U.K.-based non-profit organization that uses music to empower and improve the lives of extremely disadvantaged young people in Uganda, supports more than 1,000 children and young people each week through brass music education.

Trombone professor Lee Allen and six of his Oberlin Conservatory students spent two weeks in Kampala last January immersing themselves in Brass for Africa programs. “It was a very interesting and humbling cultural experience for myself and for the students,” Allen said during a telephone conversation. On Sunday, May 6 at 4:30 pm at the Church of the Covenant in Cleveland’s University Circle, the Oberlin Trombone Choir under Allen’s direction will present a benefit concert for Brass for Africa. Donations, which will be used to purchase and transport used brass instruments to BFA outreach centers, may be made in cash at the door or online.

Allen said that he first became aware of BFA via his friend and fellow trombonist Taylor Hughey. [Read more…]