Tedeschi Trucks Band Donates $48,000 Worth Of Instruments To A Jacksonville School

JACKSONVILLE, FL (CelebrityAccess) — Jacksonville-based, blues-rock group Tedeschi Trucks Band proved to be hometown heroes when they donated a collection of musical instruments to Englewood High School, a public education facility located in Jacksonville’s Southside.

The donation consisted of 38 brand new musical instruments, including guitars, wind instruments, and drum sets, as well as more expensive and hard-to-rent instruments such as tubas, sousaphones, and euphoniums.

“We are deeply thankful to the Tedeschi Trucks Band for their incredible support, not just of the Englewood High School music program, but music programs across the district,” said DCPS Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene. “Through their generous donations over the years, they have truly given hundreds of students the gift of music. Knowing that these instruments came from an alum from that school and two very gifted local artists makes the donation even more special. The students and staff at Englewood High School will benefit from this transformative gift for years to come.”

The donation of instruments was made possible by Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a charitable endeavor that works to make sure students have access to music instruments. The organization was founded by Michael Kamen, the composer for the 1995 drama “Mr. Holland’s Opus” which starred Richard Dreyfuss as a music teacher who inspires his students.

The stated goal of MHOF is to “help children achieve their greatest potential and to close the gap that exists in underserved communities.”

“We are deeply thankful to the Tedeschi Trucks Band for their incredible support, not just of the Englewood High School music program, but music programs across the district,” said DCPS Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene. “Through their generous donations over the years, they have truly given hundreds of students the gift of music. Knowing that these instruments came from an alum from that school and two very gifted local artists makes the donation even more special. The students and staff at Englewood High School will benefit from this transformative gift for years to come.”

In addition to the donation of instruments, the Tedeschi Trucks Band invited students and staff from the school to a concert at Jacksonville’s Daily’s Place Amphiteather earlier this summer.

Students and staff were invited backstage to meet the band, where they were learned about TTB’s plans to donate the instruments.

The 12-piece Tedeschi Trucks ensemble is led by the husband-wife team of guitarist Derek Trucks and singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi.

“Susan and I were both fortunate to have instruments available to us when we were young,” said Trucks in a press statement. “Sadly, this is not the case for so many students these days, at a time when having the tools to express creativity is so vital to their education. We were happy and humbled to be able to help.”

A list of the musical instruments provided by the donation is as follows:

• 3 Eastman ECL230 clarinets
• 3 Eastman EEP421 4-valve euphoniums
• 2 Eastman EBB534 4/4-size 4-valve tubas
• 2 Eastman EFL210 flutes
• 2 Eastman ETB432 trombones with F-attachments
• 1 LP LP646NY-AW conga set
• 1 Accent Drive LC17511 drum set
• 2 Eastman EPH324 sousaphones
• 2 Jupiter JMP1000M mellophones
• 20 Cordoba CP100 acoustic guitars