Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith wants to ’give it away, give it away’ now for music
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Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer and St. Paul native Chad Smith announced on Saturday that he’s donating $160,000 to the University of Minnesota to fund scholarships for aspiring musicians.
Smith’s foundation funded the new scholarships meant to help musicians from underserved and underrepresented communities attend the university’s School of Music. The scholarship is named after the drummer’s parents — Curtis and Joan Smith. Both are University of Minnesota alumni.
During a visit to the university, Smith said music programs in his school were key for him. And he hopes his foundation can do more to get instruments into students’ hands and get additional resources to school and community music programs over time.
“I’m fortunate that I’m in a band that people like, or some people like enough to be able to inspire some of these musicians,” Smith said. “I feel if you have that opportunity, you should give back.”
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Added Smith, “I wouldn't have made it through school if it wasn’t for the music programs in my high school.”
In addition to giving young musicians an opportunity to continue their training, Smith says he’ll view the scholarship program as a success if it grows a new generation of great musicians.
“There will be some great bands that come out of Minnesota, or a great musician or the next Bruce Springsteen or Bob Dylan, who’s from Minnesota, or Prince,” he said, “that would be great.”
A group of student musicians got a chance to perform with Smith on Saturday. And the university’s marching band planned to jam with him during the halftime show of the Gophers’ Big Ten football game against Purdue.
Ava Danberg, who is studying elementary education at the U, sang lead vocals as the group played “Californication” and “Can’t Stop” for a crowd.
“I had a lot of fun. I was very nervous, but I'm feeling really good,” Danberg said.
David Murphy, who is majoring in marketing and finance and minoring in music, agreed it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“He’s one of the greatest drummers of all time, and just super grateful to the University of Minnesota and the Chad Smith Foundation for doing this and giving us this amazing opportunity,” he said.
Leaders of community music schools said the scholarships will make a big difference for students. Starting next school year, one applicant will be eligible for the $10,000 scholarship that can be renewed each year for four years.
Paul Babcock is CEO of the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis. He said students can access financial assistance to study music in high school, but that’s not always available if they want to continue their music education in college.
With the scholarship funding available, more students that would pursue other paths could instead focus on music.
“There can sometimes be a kind of barrier as you move from high school into college, is music something you're going to keep doing?” said Patrick Warfield, director of the University of Minnesota School of Music. “And this will help dissolve some of that barrier as students can go forward to continue pursuing their musical dreams.”
