As an aspiring musician growing up in Detroit, Jauron Perry spent his Wednesday evenings under the tutelage of some of the city’s jazz greats, learning the ins and outs of improvisation, the craft of composition, and the rich history that shapes Detroit’s jazz tradition.
Now, Perry spends his Saturday mornings molding the next generation of musicians at the same place that shaped him: The Michigan State University Community Music School-Detroit, or CMSD.
“The MSU Community Music School has a profound impact on the city of Detroit,” said Perry. “There’s so much that it’s connected to in the city’s music scene and its music education programs.”
CMSD is housed in the MSU Detroit Center, located in the Midtown neighborhood on Woodward Avenue, just a few blocks south of Orchestra Hall, the home of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and a few blocks north of Little Caesars Arena and Comerica Park. Local musicians and MSU students and faculty teach students from zero to 100 years old in subjects ranging from singing nursey rhymes to learning to play string, woodwind or brass instruments to composing and producing music.
Perry, a third-year jazz studies student in the MSU College of Music, is an intern at CMSD and an aspiring professional jazz trumpeter and music educator. His musical journey began as a 12-year-old in CMSD’s Spartan Youth Jazz program, receiving weekly lessons in all aspects of jazz musicianship from top music educators. MSU University Distinguished Professor and Detroit jazz legend Rodney Whitaker is the artistic director of the Spartan Youth Jazz Program and has been instrumental in shaping its curriculum. Perry now studies under Whitaker at MSU.
“Getting to know members of MSU’s Jazz Studies program as both educators and performers was vital in my path to Michigan State and pursing music professionally,” Perry said. “CMSD put all of the right people around me at the right time to foster my growth, inspire me and motivate me.”
“Each one, teach one”
Luke Sittard, a guitar instructor at CMSD, also attributes his growth as a musician to the Spartan Youth Jazz program, in which he now teaches. He drove 40 minutes from Oxford to Detroit every Wednesday in high school to participate in the program and was inspired to study jazz guitar at MSU. He graduated with his bachelor’s in 2022 and will receive his master’s in 2025.
“CMSD has taught me to be a professional musician. That comes from being around so many other great professional musicians who are on faculty here,” Sittard said. “I’m working with people who are playing gigs in Detroit. They hold teaching positions elsewhere, too; they’re freelance performers. There are lessons that I’ve taken from these people that I’ve just held with me my entire life.”
One of these lessons is “each one, teach one,” which Perry and Sittard both hold close to their hearts. The saying itself is a guiding principle in the jazz community, rooted in the responsibility to guide those who come after you.
“In the jazz tradition, there’s a strong culture of mentorship and of passing information from one generation down to the next,” Sittard said. “If I can be a small part of that tradition in any way, by showing somebody who’s excited about the music something that they don’t know, and then the light bulb goes off, that just feels totally fulfilling to me.”
Paola Marquez Smith, assistant director of CMSD, said watching musicians like Perry and Sittard return to the school shows the strength of the community CMSD has built.
“Community is the main word for us. CMSD is a safe place where we come together, build together and grow together,” she said. “It is so joyful to see young adults who have been through the program come back and help our current students.”
Smith, who has degrees in music composition and social work, found her community in Detroit’s music education programs, working for the Detroit Children’s Concert Choir and Detroit Symphony Orchestra before joining CMSD in February 2020. She said her choice to pursue a music career in Detroit was intentional.
“Detroit is considered a music box, both in the U.S. and internationally,” she said. “Being here in the city and having access to pioneers in jazz, techno — you name it — is enriching for professional and aspiring musicians.”
Investing in the next generation of Detroit musicians
Grace Sharp, a 13-year-old Detroit native, is grateful to learn from musicians in her city. A harpist, Sharp is the ninth member of her family to attend CMSD.
“The instruction I get here is more personal. My teacher helps me and makes me want to practice more,” she said. “I get an energy boost from being in class. I come ready to learn, and I go home and work to get better.”
Dawn Jack’s two children began attending CMSD five years ago. Jack, a Royal Oak native, said her family found the program after a different music instruction program her sons were attending in Detroit closed. She said it was exactly what they were looking for.
“Through this program, my kids have evolved tremendously,” Jack said. “They’ve built confidence, grown intellectually and learned about the creative process.”
Sittard believes the dedication instructors at CMSD have to their craft translates to their students.
“When people see musicians, they see people who have dedicated a lot of time to their craft. Seeing someone who is that dedicated inspires and uplifts people,” he said. “If we can do that for the younger generations who are trying to master their craft, that’s going to inspire them to take action and go for whatever they want to achieve — musically and beyond.”
Perry said that while he teaches students to play the trumpet, he’s also teaching them about life.
“Investing in music programs is not just about learning music or learning how to play an instrument,” he said. “It goes way beyond music, and the arts teach us how to approach life positively.”
Perry believes the impact of CMSD — and MSU’s investment in the Detroit arts scene — goes beyond the classrooms at the MSU Detroit Center.
“Arts and music aren’t just outlets of entertainment or hobbies, but they’re languages, along with other performing arts. It’s part of how we express ourselves: how we see the world, how we think and how we believe it can improve,” Perry said.
Smith sees music as a connecting force.
“Music is borderless. It connects people on a different level: there’s no language barriers, no obstacles," she said. “It’s magic.”
In Detroit and at CMSD, that connection is a special one.
“Detroit in general is that kind of community where people are so invested in music and they love music,” Sittard said. “To be a part of it is a huge honor.”
Sharp said she hopes to contribute to the city’s musical legacy someday.
“I have an opportunity to show people what Detroit can do,” she said. “And I just love that.”