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CARL CORRYBYSpecial to Newsday

Jennifer Calderon is neverfar from the sights andsounds of music. Thesixth-grader is in thechamber chorus and

plays the baritone horn atCopiague Middle School. Butshe has grown to love her latestmusical endeavor with a stiff,wooden, four-stringed instru-ment no taller than 4 feet.

“It’s like my best friend,”Jennifer, 12, said of her cello,which she began playing inJanuary 2014 as part of aD’Addario & Co. program thatbrought a string instrumentprogram to the district after amore than 30-year absence.

Farmingdale-based D’Ad-dario & Co. is the world’slargest manufacturer of guitarstrings. The company —whichlast year had $174 million insales — also makes strings forcellos, violins and just aboutany other instrument that usesthem, along with drum headsand other music accessories inthree buildings in East Farming-dale and Melville.

The company’s nonprofitD’Addario Foundation wascreated 35 years ago to makemusic education more accessi-ble by providing grants —mostly to community-basednonprofits, but in some cases

to needy public schools —for various forms of musiceducation and instructionprograms, including stringinstruments. Together withthe company’s James D’Ad-dario Family Foundation andits Harmony Program, theLong Island Lesson Programwas brought to third- throughsixth-graders in the Copiagueschool district

“It’s a commitment to thecommunity and a commitmentto music education,” saidSuzanne D’Addario Brouder,43, executive director of theD’Addario Foundation.

D’Addario Brouder said thenonprofit reached out toCopiague schools in 2013 afterthe company found that manyD’Addario employees live inCopiague and have children in

the district’s schools. Thenonprofit found that in addi-tion to Copiague’s four elemen-tary schools not having hadstring programs in more than30 years, 70 percent of thedistrict’s pupils qualify for freeor reduced lunch — traitsbefitting the foundation’smission to select schoolswhere many of the kids’ par-ents cannot afford instruments.

The program starts in Octo-ber and ends in mid-June. It isadministered through a con-tract with the Manhattan-based Harmony Program,which has 13 similar operationsthroughout the city, and ismodeled after the VenezuelanEl Sistema instrument instruc-tion program, with a focus onintensive training and ensem-ble performance.

Copiague studentsflourish inmusicandmorewithD’Addario support

COVERSTORY

VOLUNTEER NATIONA MONTHLY SERIES

Strings of successes

Suzanne D’Addario Brouder, director of the James D’Addario Family Foundation arm of the D’Addario & Co. musical instrument stringmaker, calls its Long Island Lesson Program “a commitment to the community and a commitment to music education.”

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“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything,but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything,I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”

— Edward Everett Hale

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About 20 students in theprogram receive two hours ofafter-school music educationthree days a week. They aregiven instruments donated byD’Addario and are bused topractices at Copiague’s SusanE. Wiley Elementary School.

“Usually, you only have 40

minutes with students,” saidKatelyn Odierna, 22, ofSayville, who has taught thesecond-year violin studentssince January. “It gives you alot more time to form a bondwith the students and fine-tune a bunch of the issues. Youcan build lasting relationshipswith the students.”

The D’Addario Foundationhas so far spent about $250,000on the program.

“We really believe thatmusic has the extraordinaryability to improve their cogni-tive and social development,”said D’Addario Brouder.

‘THIS OPENS DOORS’Cynthia M. Florio, principal

at Wiley, said the D’Addarioprogram has given studentsthe chance to “brighten theirfutures” by exposing them toplaying the instruments.

“They thoroughly enjoy it,and the parents are superexcited,” Florio said, addingthat she is happy to see thestudents learn about responsi-

bility, dedication and persever-ance.

Among the program’s 20students, 12 are violin players,four play the viola and four thecello.

When students join theprogram, they fill out an appli-cation and choose a preferredinstrument and a backup, saidGeoffrey Stone, 38, a Seafordresident who is the program’slead instructor. (The programprovides music teachers, aswell.) He teaches the celloplayers, while Kelly Flynn, 26,of Commack, instructs theprogram’s third-year violin andviola players.

Stone said the studentswarmed to their instrumentsright away.

“I’ve never seen a child afraidof amusical instrument inmylife,” he said. “They are so eagerto get their hands on the instru-ment and start playingwiththem. It’s like a new toy.”

Kiara Nieto, 11, a fourth-

See COVER STORY on E6

ON THE COVER Stiven CruzSantana, 10, a fifth-graderatDeauvilleGardensWestElementary, prepares for the LongIslandLessonProgramrecital atSusanE.WileyElementary.

Lead teacher Geoffrey Stone works with students in the Long Island Lesson Program at Susan E. Wiley Elementary School in Copiague. ] Video at newsday.com/lilife

COVERSTORY newsday.com/lilife

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“It’s like my best friend,” sixth-grader Jennifer Calderon says of hercello. She’sbeenapart of theLong IslandLessonProgramsince2014.

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grader at Deauville Gardens EastElementary School who plays theviola, said she likes how theinstruments sound together andhas made friends in the past 2 ½years. Her favorite tune is“Dragon Slayer” by Rob Grice,which was played at the pro-gram’s June 8 recital.

“It has a nice tone to it,” Kiarasaid. “There are parts that arestrong and smooth, and there areother parts where it’s soft andquiet.”

Her family is proud that shehas stayed with the program.

“I always explain to her thatpeople have to pay for privatelessons” to get the same kind oftraining, said Kiara’s mother,Silvia Nieto. “I am very happywith how they treat them andhow patient they are.”

Jennifer, the cello player, re-cently won a scholarship from theD’Addario’s CharitableWorksCommittee to attend theUsdanSummerArts Camp inWheatleyHeights.

“When people ask me what Iwant to do when I grow up, I tellthem, ‘I want to be a musician inevery aspect,’ ” Jennifer said.

Florio said these kinds ofdevelopments wouldn’t havebeen possible without theD’Addario family.

“Thank you, thank you,D’Addario Foundation,” she said.“Without their support, ourstudents wouldn’t be part of thisprogram. They are tapping tal-ents that they wouldn’t have hadotherwise, or they would have todo it when they are older. Thisopens doors.”

COVER STORY from E4

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Michael D’Addario, left, director of East Coast operations; hisbrother John D’Addario III, president; and their uncle JimD’Addario, CEO, at the D’Addario & Co. headquarters.

COVERSTORY

Operator Marino Fernandez ofCopiague makes strings, such asthose above, at the D’Addario &Co. factory in Farmingdale.

Strings’ reverberations

John D’Addario Jr., left, Charles D’Addario, John D’Addario Sr. andJim D’Addario in 1975 in space the string firm rented inLindenhurst. In 1979, the company moved to Farmingdale.

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The company and the founda-tion have opened doors for manypeople over the years in theirvarious incarnations.

WhenCharles D’Addario camefrom Italy in 1904with his brother-in-lawRocco, they started byimporting strings andworked outof their home in JacksonHeights,Queens. Eventually, theymoved toa factory in Astoria.

“When we started in Astoria. . . we had quite a few Colom-bian, Dominican, Honduran andsome Puerto Rican employees,but for some reason there was acore of Dominican families andthey lived in Brooklyn andQueens,” said D’Addario CEO JimD’Addario, Charles’ grandson andthe son of John D’Addario, whotook over the business.

John and his son, John Jr., soldthe company in 1969 to MartinGuitar. The family decided tobreak out on its own again in 1973and moved to a 2,000-square-footstorefront in Lynbrook. By 1974,the first D’Addario-brandedstrings were introduced. Beforethat, the company made stringsfor private labels.

“My grandfather and my fatherwere mainly what you would calla job shop,” said Jim D’Addario.“They would make strings forguitar makers like D’Aquisto,D’Angelico or Martin or Guild orFender, so on.”

With themove to Lynbrook,employees followed. D’Addario hasabout 1,150 employeesworldwide.

See COVER STORY on E8

Throughout its history, the D’Ad-dario Foundation has been largelysupported by a portion of profitsfromD’Addario & Co., the stringsmanufacturer based in Farmingdale.Now the nonprofit foundation isseeking support to sustain andexpandmany programs like its LongIsland Lesson Program, said execu-tive director Suzanne D’AddarioBrouder.

Donations can bemade as ageneral gift, or can be focused ongeographic areas, scholarship assis-tance, D’Addario’s performanceseries of young guitar talent, asmemorial contributions or for El

Sistema programs, which include theLong Island Lesson Program.

The foundation will hold its firstfundraising event on Sept. 22 at theBRIC Arts Space in Brooklyn. Ticketswill go on sale in mid-July. Songwriterand guitarist BlakeMills will performand is themusical director. Otherperformers will include Karen O. ofthe Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s, and studentgroups such as theWHINMusicProject and the Brooklyn Steppers.

The foundation will soon acceptdonations via its Facebook page,which D’Addario Brouder called “awonderful place to learnmore aboutour advocacy for music education.”

For more information, go todaddariofoundation.org/donate

The Children’s Orchestra Society, ayouth symphony for children on LongIsland and in the New York City areafounded in 1962 by Hiao-Tsiun Ma,father of world-renowned cellist Yo-YoMa. The society has offices in FreshMeadows, Queens, and practices atMolloy College in Rockville Centre. Itsdirector is Yeou-ChengMa, Yo-Yo’ssister. Students can participate in thenonprofit’s orchestra, chamber music,musicianship, chorus or majors pro-gram. Orchestra members have theopportunity to perform in concertswith their peers and with well-estab-lished musicians.Contact: 347-542-3308;childrensorch.org

The FREE (Family Residence andEssential Enterprises) Drum Corps,which performs at festivals, paradesand community events across LongIsland and the United States. Thecorps — one of the world’s firstspecial-needs drum corps — hasbeen selected to perform in anexhibition at the 2018 Drum CorpsInternational World Championship inIndianapolis. It has 65 members andwas created in 2010 by Brian Cal-houn, who is a professional drummer.FREE, based in Old Bethpage, issponsored by D’Addario, whichprovides Promark drumsticks andEvans drumheads for its members.Contact FREE or go toFacebook.com/FREEplayersdrumcorpsContact: 516-870-7000;familyres.org; info@familyres.org(email)

For more information and volunteeropportunities, contact the LONGISLAND VOLUNTEER CENTER at516-564-5482;longislandvolunteercenter.org

Geoffrey Stone has been with the Long IslandLesson Program since January 2014 and is the leadteacher. It’s been a short learning curve for himand the 20 students in the D’Addario Foundationprogram.

“We have the kids six hours a week,” said Stone,38, who instructs the program’s four cello players,fourth- through sixth-graders, during practicesessions at Susan E. Wiley Elementary School inCopiague. “And that is a lot of instruction time.The potential is huge for what the students canreach in a short amount of time.”

Stone, a resident of Seaford, said many second-year students have caught up with third-year stu-dents, partly because the students work with eachother.

“They have really come a long way,” Stone said.“If they are able to teach it, that’s a level of mas-tery.”

Stone’s mastery of string instruments began inthe Midwest. The Milwaukee native got his bache-lor’s in music performance from the ClevelandInstitute of Music, and both a master’s in musicperformance and an artist’s diploma from theUniversity of Cincinnati, where he met his wife,Kristin, a Bethpage native.

After Cincinnati, Stone went to Hawaii andspent eight years playing double bass in the Hon-olulu Symphony Orchestra, now called the HawaiiSymphony Orchestra.

In December, he received a master’s in educa-tion from Hofstra University and was an orchestrateacher in Babylon schools before being hiredearlier this month to teach in the Herricks UnionFree School District.

“I’ve had great experiences performing music inmy life, and equally great teaching experiences,and the Harmony Program has given me the oppor-tunity to share this art form with young peoplewho are very eager to experience it,” Stone said.

Anne Fitzgibbon, 45, founder and executivedirector of the Harmony Program, called Stone“ultra-professional and reliable. He’s committed.He’s made such a difference. He’s the heart of thisprogram.”

— CARL CORRY

Geoffrey Stone

Kierah Harrisperforms at therecital;participants inthe Long IslandLesson Programget threetwo-hour lessonson stringinstruments aweek. Freelessons are alsooffered in thesummer.

COVERSTORY newsday.com/lilife

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The Long Islandworkforce ofabout 800 people includesseveral generations of the found-ing family and employees’ kin.“One or two had vans, and theywould drive people out,” D’Ad-dario said. “And that kind ofmushroomed andmushroomed,and eventually they startedbuying or renting homes here inAmityville andCopiague, DeerPark and around here on theSouth Shore.Now, the lion’sshare of our people come frompretty close by.”

That includes manufacturingmanager Miledys Espinal, 47, ofLindenhurst, who came fromthe Dominican Republic in1991 and started as a machineoperator at D’Addario, whereher mother-in-law worked inpacking. Espinal now oversees600 people across three shifts.

“I really took the opportu-nity they gave to me,” she said.“They provided me training”and paid for English classes atSuffolk County CommunityCollege, Espinal added. “Whenyou work for D’Addario, youcan buy a car, you know thatyou have job security.”

Espinal’s brother, Jose Ferri-era, is an assistant supervisorwho has worked at the com-pany for more than 15 years.Espinal also has nephews andnieces who work at D’Addario.

Cellist Jennifer Calderon’smother, Marta, also is at thecompany, along with the girl’sgrandmother and an aunt.

D’Addario’s ownGeneration4, as it is called, includes eightdirect D’Addario descendants orin-laws, including companypresident JohnD’Addario III.TwoGeneration 5memberswillbe summer interns.

Jim D’Addario said the com-pany has a family businesscounselor, an annual “state ofthe company” retreat and thatall of the children involved inthe family business meet fordinner once a month to discussissues and ideas.

MUSIC EDUCATIONThe D’Addario Foundation,

established in 1981, initiallywas set up to support classicalguitar performance concertsand morphed into a nonprofitfocused on music education,Jim D’Addario said.

“Now it’s 90 percent musiceducation,” he said. “We’d love

to be able to do more. Lastyear, we donated a little over$1 million in grants and prod-uct donations through thefoundation through the educa-tion programs. We are nowtrying to fundraise so that wecan supplement and do morewith these pilot programs. Butwe need to create a formulawhere we have agreement withthe school systems . . . to saywe are going to come in tofund this for five to 10 yearsand after the fifth year we startweaning you off the funding.”

D’Addario Brouder said the

foundation’s proposal for Copi-aguewas originally turned downby the superintendent’s office,but that the foundation offered athree-year commitment thatincluded running the programout of theD’Addario facility inthe first year. The next year, thedistrict agreed to use an elemen-tary school to host the program,which now serves fourth-through sixth-graders.

“There are some brightlights at the school level, partic-ularly supportive principalsand assistant and associateprincipals that have embraced

the program and see the amaz-ing things the students in thisprogram are achieving,”D’Addario Brouder said.

Without any other outsidesupport, the nonprofit founda-tion is committed to the LongIsland Lesson Program inCopi-ague through the next schoolyear, D’Addario Brouder said.

Hofstra University’s musicprogram has proposed thatD’Addario start a program inthe Roosevelt school districtlike the one offered inCopiague, and that graduatestudents earn course credit for

teaching students. But that’s“in the very early stages,”D’Addario Brouder said.

This summer, the foundationwill offer practice sessionsthree days a week from July 12to Aug. 25. Stone said studentswill perform chamber music insmall ensembles of two to fourstudents and that a recital willbe held when the sessions end.

To have a successful program,parents need to be supportiveand encourage their children topractice, while teachers need totake into consideration that it’s along day for the students, whogo to lessons after being in classformost of the day, said instruc-tor Flynn. She arranged theversion of “Largo” byAntoninDvorak that her students playedat the program’s June 8 recital.

Flynn said she keeps themmotivated by turning lessonsinto games. “They actuallyenjoy learning about musictheory,” she said, laughing.

Stone said it’s important toget to know the students.

“With kids this age, it’s reallyabout pacing and variety,” hesaid. “There’s a balance be-tween discipline and fun. Iguess you can say respect.When kids have respect, every-thing goes well. And these kidsare very respectful.”

Legacy is a concept spokenabout often in the halls ofD’Ad-dario&Co. JohnD’Addario Jr.,vice chairman of the board ofdirectors andD’AddarioBrouder’s father, said the bench-mark for success in the LongIsland Lesson Program is seeingthe students seek a higher educa-tion.

“We think that themusiceducation is an integral part ofthe reasonwhy they do,” he said.

Flynn echoed others’ senti-ments about another programelement to consider, whichmimics the business culture atD’Addario.

“You can see how it affectstheir lives,” she said of themusic. “It’s an outlet. It’s kindof like a family.”

A really fun one, accordingto Stiven Cruz Santana, 10, afifth-grader at Deauville Gar-dens West Elementary. He hasplayed cello in the Long IslandLesson Program since January2015 and said it has sparked agreater interest in music andexpanded his circle of friends.

“When I’m with the group,we are all enthusiastic, fun andhappy,” Stiven said.

COVER STORY from E6

Music teacher Kelly Flynn of Commack arranged“Largo”byAntoninDvorak for the recital.

COVERSTORY

In tune with a love of music

Music teacher Katelyn Odierna of Sayville warms up her violin class before the June recital.

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Kiara Nieto adds rosin to her bow before the LongIsland Lesson Program recital.

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