“Having early access to music education can transform the future of a great learner and affect the trajectory of their entire life,” Broza declared on the project web site.
By BARRY DAVISFrom Left: Shmulik Budagov, David Broza, Idan Toledano and Nabil Aboud.(photo credit: Courtesy)
Veteran Israeli guitarist-vocalist David Broza has not only been entertaining audiences all over the world for over four decades, he has now announced a global initiative designed to enable youngsters from all walks of life and backgrounds to get into some hands-on music making.Last week Broza launched One Million Guitars, a nonprofit project which aims to get guitars into the hands of children the world over. The plan is to craft guitars at a production facility in Asia, overseen by veteran rock guitarist Shmulik Budagov who has been building top of the line guitars for years in Tel Aviv. The finished guitars will subsequently be delivered to schools and after-school centers. Once there, local music instructors ensure the guitars are tuned and then presented to the lucky kids.“Having early access to music education can transform the future of a great learner and affect the trajectory of their entire life,” Broza declared on the project web site. He believes that engaging in music can have valuable knock on benefits in other areas too.“Apart from the subjective notion that music lifts the soul, it has been empirically shown that learners with the benefit of a musical training excel in other academic and creative domains,” Broza continued, adding that not having recourse to instruments can have a detrimental effect on personal and general development. “So many of our brightest minds, those that can inspire future generations to improve our world, do not have access to a music education.”Broza has done his fair share of globetrotting over the years, during which he encountered refugee children and youngsters living in disadvantaged circumstances. That sowed the seed for the One Million Guitars program. The nonprofit has representatives stationed globally, with musicians Eric Bland and Ido Segal in charge of the New York end of things, and Nazareth-based cross-cultural music education outfit Polyphony Foundation, under the auspices of internationally renowned violinist and Polyphony co-founder Nabeel Abboud-Ashkar, running things here.One Million Guitars also aims to provide two-year musical training programs, designed by Idan Toledano, with graduates taking their guitar home, for free.“This all starts and ends with a kid with a guitar,” said Toledano, who sees great expansive things coming out of the initiative. “Given the opportunity to surface the best version of themselves, millions of like-minded children around the world will unite in a global chorus of personal growth, potential, diversity and peace.”For more information and to make a donation see here.
