KANTER FUND ‘Bravo Man’ Lives Forever THROUGH GRANTS FOR THE A R T S Lee Kanter
Lee Kanter would jump up and shout “bravo” if he could hear Arick Bonnett hammer out Paganini on the steel drums. Kanter, who died in 2001, was a Virginia Beach music lover who was always first to leap up and applaud outstanding performances. His son nick- named him “Bravo Man” for his enthusiastic cheering.
Bonnett is a recent Great Bridge High School graduate
from Chesapeake. His passion in life is playing steel drums with Multi-cultural Performing Arts Consulting. “I don’t play sports,” he says. “I play music.” The Hampton Roads nonprofit teaches students
like Bonnett to love music and to have the discipline to master it. Multi-cultural offers free weekly lessons at the Southside Boys & Girls Club, the Diggs Town housing community, the Attucks Theatre and the Douglas Park housing community. Kanter, an attorney and founder of the Farm Fresh grocery
chain, left a bequest in his will for two permanent arts funds at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. In 2010 Kanter grants paid for $15,000 in steel drums that let area children learn to play music. Over the past decade Kanter grants have assisted eight arts organizations including Todd Rosenlieb Dance and the Virginia Symphony. On Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings Bonnett practices for two hours at the Attucks Theatre on a new steel drum. He is among 125 young steel drum players from Hampton Roads. Bonnett is honing his skills through Mosaic Steel Orchestra – Multi-cultural’s premier show group. Before discovering the steel drums and their magical sounds he was a shy violin player. His mother Lisa attributes her son’s boost in confidence to the steel drum program. “He’s more assertive now,” she says.
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During a college tour to George Mason University, “Arick talked to the percussion director who was so impressed with him. Usually I have to ask questions for him, but that was pretty cool to see him asking.” Bonnett also became a leader in his high school orchestra and was named concert master his senior year. Multi-cultural Performing Arts Consulting started in 2006 to teach music, promote diversity and develop Hampton Roads youth. The new steel drums the Foundation bought in 2010 let Dr. Anthony Hailey, executive director, expand the program to the Southside Boys & Girls Club. The lilting sound of the steel drums “created a lot of excitement. Kids started coming up and asking to be in the program. The steel drums captivated them.” Along with music, Hailey’s program teaches discipline, responsibility and teamwork. Road trips introduce students to college life during performances at college and universities. Bonnett will start college at Northern Virginia Community College this fall and has already been invited to play steel drums at George Mason University where he hopes to transfer. His goal: a career in music.
Dr. Anthony Hailey (left) teaches Arick Bonnett.
In the past decade our two Kanter Funds have provided more than $87,000 in grants to eight Hampton Roads arts groups.
Courtesy of the Kanter family
IMPACT Photo by Glen McClure Hampton Roads Community Foundation • hamptonr oadscf.or g
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