Charity Spotlight: SOUNDS Academy
ORGANIZATION
SOUNDS Academy
LEADERSHIP
Founder & CEO | Kirk Johnson
Board Chair | Ian Fischer
ANNUAL BUDGET
$440,000
ORIGIN: SOUNDS Academy began in September 2014 with 10 students and one teacher at Buchanan Music in Mesa. The students worked hard and used the community as their stage, performing at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, the Orpheum Theatre and various festivals in Phoenix. As time went by, more students signed up and got involved. Today, SOUNDS Academy is a growing nonprofit that teaches, mentors and provides musical experiences to 300 underserved youth in its school and SOLO programs. It exposes an additional 4,000 students to live performances through its Musical Access Program and Instrument “Petting Zoos.”
KNOWN FOR: Believing the ZIP code a child lives in should never dictate their access to music education, SOUNDS Academy is known for creating music education opportunities in areas where children seldom get access because of availability and affordability. The organization has given more than 35,000 lessons and classes to students in Arizona and strives to teach character values through music education.
CHALLENGES DURING COVID-19: Like many education organizations, SOUNDS Academy had to adapt its classes to a virtual platform. The organization continued teaching students virtually and also showcased online concerts so the public could see how students continued to grow. During this time, SOUNDS Academy learned a few things about itself. It discovered students were displaying character values more than they ever imagined, using lessons learned from SOUNDS Academy in other aspects of their school and life. (One middle-school student even used their leadership and creativity to start a business.)
“We learned we were addressing the social-emotional needs of students that needed it the most. Parents would tell us that their children would practice, write songs and perform to cope with the chaos of the world,” said Kirk Johnson, SOUNDS Academy founder and CEO. “Parents also told us that the consistency of our programming and the practice routine helped their children find a sense of normalcy.”
MOST SURPRISING THINGS ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION: Its growth and diversity. When SOUNDS Academy started in 2014, it began with just a handful of students. In early 2020, it served 4,300 students a year, 80 percent of whom are from minority ethnic populations.
WHAT THEY’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS SEASON: SOUNDS Academy can’t wait to see students again and perform for the public. “We’re going to be adding a location and building a piano lab for students to learn in Phoenix. We just had a big community service day to paint and refurbish the space. Now we are designing it and moving in furniture and instruments so it will be ready for the new school year,” Johnson said.
To learn more, go to soundsacademy.org.
