Our Story

BLUME Haiti was launched in 2012 by founder Janet Anthony and founding board members Carolyn Armstrong Desrosiers, Tom Clowes, Scott Harrison, Jordan King, Ricardo Lesperance and Lindsay Schwartz, receiving recognition late that year as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation organized in the state of Wisconsin.

Janet, recently retired as George and Marjorie Olsen Chandler professor of music at Lawrence University, first traveled to Haiti in 1996. Her curiosity was piqued by an ad in Strings Magazine seeking volunteers for the summer camp in Leogane run by the École de Musique Sainte Trinité (EMST) based in Port-au-Prince. She was immediately struck by the passion, excitement, dedication, and drive of the students, teachers and staff she worked with. In a country most of us know only through headlines about one (man made or natural) disaster after another, she was captivated by the enormous desire to learn, the real hunger for information that most of the students brought to the table (what teacher wouldn't be delighted!) 

Janet returned year after year, volunteering not only in Leogane, but traveling throughout the country to learn about other music programs and work with countless young Haitian musicians.  Already in 1997, she began to invite Lawrence students to join her on her trips to Haiti, which is how fellow founding board members Carolyn, Tom, Lindsay - all cellists studying with Janet at Lawrence University - and Jordan - a violinist -  came to experience Haiti for the first time. Haitian-born founding board member Ricardo was a student at EMST and member of the renowned Petit Chanteurs boys’ choir who later graduated from Lawrence University with degrees in music and government. Scott Harrison, an arts administrator who was based in Indianapolis at the time, met Janet and the others for the first time when volunteering at the music camp in Leogane in 2008.

In a very informal capacity, Janet and others brought down instruments, music and supplies intended to help augment the resources at various programs. However, it wasn’t until the devastating earthquake in January of 2010 that she and several others began to get serious about starting a non-profit organization to enable people in the United States to help replace destroyed instruments and to support music programs throughout Haiti. And thus, with the support of Jimmy Buffet’s Singing for Change Foundation, BLUME Haiti was born. From the very beginning we have made sure that Haitian voices are represented on the board. Ricardo is serving as Board Chair and other Haitian board members function in various capacities. 

Music of all types is a potent tool of communication. Through music we can move to feelings and emotions beyond the capacity of words. Given the myriad difficulties Haiti has experienced over the years, it is an honor for us to be able to help students, teachers, their families and the surrounding neighborhoods bring order to their every-day lives. The numerous programs we organize and sponsor provide opportunities to develop leadership skills and create many occasions for civic collaboration and economic development. The discipline of music, the ability to work together, the use of music as a tool of social inclusion, all of this and more comes to the forefront of our work in Haiti. In short, we are helping a generation of young Haitians find their voice.