DETROIT – Music makes you move. It can tell a story or broaden your mind, which is one thing that Damien Crutcher understands very well.
"I had a general music teacher and he played all kinds of music for us, from Beethoven to Diana Ross to William Grant Still," Crutcher said.
"Are you amazed sometimes at names that you would figure kids in our city don’t even know who that is?" asked Mitch Albom.
"I think it’s a shame that they don’t know who these people were and what they contributed to our society," Crutcher said.
As founder of Crescendo Detroit, Crutcher's career as a music teacher and conductor gave him the skills needed to enrich the lives of students in Detroit, especially since so many performing arts programs have been eliminated from the schools.
"The neighborhood that our program is in does not have band, music, dance, art or gym, so coming home with an instrument the first day like we did in elementary school these kids they don’t have that and so we’re doing that for them," Crutcher said.
Whether they are playing the trumpet, learning choreography or singing in the choir, the kids of Crescendo Detroit are reaping the benefits of arts education.
"Making the kids proud of who they are is important even at a young age, and they start to feel better about themselves and they know what they can do," Crutcher said.
"At the end of the day at your program, what are you proudest of?" Albom asked.
"That we've made a difference in the kids' lives and that we've made them able to imagine life outside of their block," Crutcher said.
With a little music and a little dance, Crutcher and Crescendo Detroit are hitting all the right notes in the heart of Detroit.