On Saturday, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith met with students, alumni and guests to launch the first-ever scholarship with the University of Minnesota’s School of Music, in partnership with the Chad Smith Foundation.
It’s called the Curtis and Joan Smith Scholarship, named for Smith’s parents, who are university alumni. The scholarship is designed to help support young Minnesota musicians pursuing a degree at the university.
“It’s an opportunity for us to celebrate, obviously, my mom and dad, but also where we started our lives and grew up,” Smith said. “I love music. I’m so passionate about it. And I’m so fortunate I found it at a young age.”
Born in St. Paul, Smith was raised with a love for the U and music. As alumni, Curtis and Joan Smith graduated in 1957 and 1948, respectively, where Curtis attended through the G.I. Bill after serving in the military.
“My father passed in 2001, but my mother is 98 years old; she couldn’t be here, but she’s really excited about the legacy that we’re continuing in her alma mater and my father’s alma mater,” Smith said. “It means a lot to her and to us.”
The Chad Smith Foundation, founded in August by Smith and his nephew Lewis Smith, seeks to connect young people to music through education and resources. This scholarship is seen as a first step in this pursuit.
“We strongly believe that the best time to have music as a role in your life is as early as possible. We’re dedicated to reaching the next generation and inspiring them to hear, see and feel music being played,” Lewis Smith said. “We want to give them access to instruments to an educational curriculum to fuel that inspiration. If they want to make it a career, maybe through the University of Minnesota, we have scholarships in place to give them the support they need to make it.”
The scholarship debuted during homecoming weekend, with an accompanying performance by Smith at a fundraising luncheon with the music school’s rock band and later at the halftime show of the Gophers football game against the Purdue Boilermakers.
The Gophers later won the game, 27-20, with a comeback in the second half of the game at Huntington Bank Stadium.
During the launch, Smith played “Californication” and “Can’t Stop” with the School of Music’s first-ever rock band, Skwirl. The band was formed in the spring by Del Lyren, the school’s undergraduate adviser and enrollment manager. The six students performed with Smith playing drums for the familiar songs.
Tia Bersie, a musical therapy student in the band, said the experience was completely unexpected.
“It’s just a really cool opportunity that felt, like, it was kind of thrown at us really suddenly. We were not expecting to get to go do something with the Chad Smith,” Bersie said.
Ava Danberg, another student and lead singer of the performance, said the recognition from an artist like Smith was validating as a student musician.
“We all have really busy schedules, but we all try to take time out of our week to practice together. So, just the fact that he took time out of his schedule to come and see us was such a cool opportunity,” Danberg said.
Another group at the luncheon was Minnesota’s branch of the School of Rock, a music program designed for students of all ages and skill levels to learn in a performance-based setting. Founded in 1998 as a single school in Philadelphia, School of Rock has expanded to over 385 locations and 16 different countries.
“It ties into our foundation because we just want the next generation to be able to have the opportunity and exposure to music and equipment and education and teachers and places to play,” Smith said.
Throughout the event, the importance of introducing young people to music was emphasized by Smith and his foundation. The drummer took time to meet with every guest present, taking pictures individually, as well as group photos with the School of Rock students.
“Music is, I just think it’s the greatest thing. It’s the universal language,” Smith said. “Everybody loves it and is connected to music. There are so many great things about it that just make the world go round.”
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