which pairs a children's book with music.

- Today I am talking to Von Washington, who is the executive director for The Kalamazoo Promise.

But today I wanted to talk to him a little bit about a book that was written by a Kalamazoo author, Sonya Hollins, it's called "Jammin' in Kalamazoo," and he narrated it.

So thank you so much for talking with me here today.

- Oh, thank you Kim, it's my pleasure.

- Well, you know, I just adore Sonya.

I think she's just like the most innovative woman that I've met in a long time.

What was it like working with her and what was it like doing the show?

- Well, I've had the honor of knowing Sonya for well over 10 plus years and doing work with her and her family.

And it's just always a pleasure.

Her ideas, her creativity and absolute enthusiasm for life just rubs off on you.

So anytime a project comes up and it features an opportunity to work with Sonya, the answer's yes.

- So tell me about this show "Jammin' in Kalamazoo."

You narrated it, what's the story?

- So Sonya and her husband Sean have actively been looking at and searching out experiences, especially experiences for African American youth to put into books.

And they just put together "Jammin' in Kalamazoo" with music commissioned by Branford Marsalis, the unbelievable musician and creator.

And so it was just fantastic.

And it's all about being in Kalamazoo, a group of young children trying to put something together positive and do it through music in the instruments that they have.

And also about a music instructor, a teacher that they had who faced the challenge of a house burning down, but still insisted that music be the way to bring communities together.

And so I had the opportunity to read on behalf of the debut of this, and it was just amazing.

- [Kim] Now, Edward Callahan was the pianist in this production, but tell me a little bit, there's a history that goes along with this.

- Absolutely, Edward was in the first class of The Kalamazoo Promise.

And so just to see what he has done, how world renowned he has become, the fame that is destined for him and success.

But knowing that he was able to utilize The Kalamazoo Promise Scholarship to finish school with little to no debt, and to be able to then put his efforts and emphasis and his family support towards continuing to build his career is what The Kalamazoo Promise Scholarship is all about.

It's all about helping remove those barriers, giving families and students the opportunity to use their resources to elevate their lives.

And Edward is just a prime example of that.

We're very proud of him.

- You know, you're involved, you know, heavily with The Kalamazoo Promise.

Talk a little bit about what that's done for the city, for really, you know, the country getting people even thinking out of the box.

- Yeah, Kim, and thank you for mentioning the broader scope of it because The Kalamazoo Promise being announced in 2005 was known then as the First Promise Scholarship paying tuition and mandatory fees for students to go to Michigan colleges and universities.

That just caught wildfire and there are over 300 programs across the country now.

Now, one thing we do know is there no program has the generosity that The Kalamazoo Promise has.

It's 17 years later, over $200 million has been invested in human capital and these students that are going on to open up their minds and further their education.

And so it's just been tremendous for the community and it just continues to go as it's promised by these anonymous donors in perpetuity.

So we get to continue to do the work that's necessary to help students be successful.

- Oh, wonderful, you know Von, I just wanted to thank you so much for talking with me here today, I know you're so busy and your time is a hot commodity.

So thank you so much for sharing a little bit with me.

- Well, thank you for letting me share, always time for something like this, especially when it comes to Sonya and Sean Hollins and the work that they're doing and then the work of children.

So thank you, Kim.

- Well, today I am talking with Kalamazoo born and raised Edward Callahan about "Jammin' in Kalamazoo."

It's a musical storybook concert.

Thank you so much for talking with me today.

- Of course, thank you for having me.

- So tell me a little bit about this production 'cause you know, it started out really as a baby seed and grew into something huge.

- Yeah, so originally the very first book that my mom, Sonya Hollins, is my mom for those that don't know.

She wrote a book about me called "Little Eddie Goes to Carnegie Hall."

And this was a book to just not only motivate me, but motivate kids to go for their dreams and you know, let them know if they can dream it, they can do it.

And then from there, the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra reached out to her about doing a book with something about the music with Kalamazoo.

So that's kinda how that happened.

And Branford Marsalis, the iconic musician, he put the music together for that and- - [Kim] I was gonna ask you, what was that like working with Branford Marsalis?

Oh my gosh, I can't even imagine?

- Oh my God, like a living legend.

It was just such an honor to stand next to him, you know, like just thinking about all the times at Western when I was in Dalton practicing and hoping to get to that level.

And so, to be able to just, you know, hear him say, "Great job, great playing," was like, that's all I needed.

- When you look back over your life really, you know, there were pivotal moments all throughout it, right?

What, how did that lead you to where you're at now?

- Yeah, one of the big moments was like the Gilmore Keyboard Festival, as a child, my teacher Billy Nettaroth, we always used to go to the festival.

She would have her music and we would, we had the programs and we would get autographs from everybody who was performing.

This was every year.

So I was able to meet iconic pianists like Mitsuko Uchida, Ingrid Fliter, Jeremy Denk, I mean, I could, Andre Watts like the first black classical pianist, you know.

So I have a picture, me, Raymond Harvey and Andre Watts on the side of me, and it's like, it doesn't get better than that.

So some of those moments, you know, I will always cherish just going to the festivals.

And I recently performed in the Gilmore Festival a few years ago, so it was like a full circle moment, like.

So that, that's kinda like the number one moment that really stuck with me.

- Your first CD is "The Minor Keys," so I already read a little bit about it.

As soon as I saw Chopin, I'm like, oh, he's my favorite.

Tell me a little bit about it.

- Yeah, "The Minor Keys" was my first album recorded in 2019, and I envisioned it to be like a relaxing album.

So something you can do homework with, if you're taking a shower, if you're studying, just something to just play and like if you're getting ready to go to sleep.

So that was the vision I had.

And of course, every song is in a minor key, so you have like the Chopin "Nocturne" in B flat of.

(gentle piano music) Right, you like have one of those, you know, you have the.

Right, you have that of.

Yeah, it hits the soul, it's really emotional.

Like you can just breathe, you can be one with it, you know, like it's my therapy in a way.

Like, it's just when I'm having a bad day, when I'm feeling down, you know, I can just sit at this piano and just let it all out, so that's great.

- Yeah, it's beautiful.

It's beautiful, and it debuted as one of the top 10 traditional classical albums on the Billboard chart.

And it was number one on the iTunes chart.

- Yes.

- What were you feeling?

- It was crazy because I just had a lot of support, a lot of hometown support.

Like, you know, people don't really buy albums anymore, but everyone bought the albums, so that's what made it like skyrocket to the charts.

And it was on iTunes number one for like the whole week.

And I'm like, wow, like this is, this is great.

So yeah, that's how it happened.

And then that's when I released, after that I released the second album, which was crazy.

"A Tunes," that one went number one, everyone bought that one and then went number one on the Billboard charts, making me the first black pianist to ever go number one on the charts.

- Oh, my God, that's great.

Congratulations.

- So, it's like.

- Oh, my gosh.

- Thank you.

- What message do you want kids to take away from basically watching you and your life, and how it unfolded?

- If I can say one thing I'll say, it only takes one person to say, yes.

You can have many nos, you're gonna get a lot of nos, but you have to keep trying.

And once one person says yes, it can literally change your life and it can open up so many doors.

So don't give up, know what you have in yourself, know your talent, know, you know, that you can do it and believe in yourself.

Those are the things that I have to tell myself even nowadays.

But just keep going and you can do it.

You can make it happen.

If you can think about it, if you can dream it, it can happen in real life.

- What's that saying, "If your mind can conceive it and your heart can believe it, you'll be sure to achieve it."

- I like that, I like that, yeah, that's it, that's it.

- Edward, thank you so much for talking with me here today.

It has been such a pleasure.

It was so much fun learning all about you.

- Oh, thank you so much and I hope to see you soon, and hopefully in concert one of these days, you'll get to see me.

- Oh, piano, it's my thing.

- Yay.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] Support for "Kalamazoo Lively Arts" is provided by the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, helping to build and enrich the cultural life of greater Kalamazoo.