New Haven students create songs with Grammy artists

NEW HAVEN — Growing up as the son of a preacher in New Haven, Jason Boyd was not allowed to listen to secular music, but when he found a tape of  Stevie Wonder singing “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” he knew he found his calling.

Now he’s writing songs for the likes of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande.

“I remember sneaking in the middle of the night listening to it,” Boyd, a Grammy nominated singer-songwriter and producer known as “Poo Bear,” told a group of New Haven students. “And that’s what made me just want to be a part of music, because the way Stevie Wonder’s music made me feel, I was like, I want to be a part of this.” 

Cooperative Arts & Humanities Magnet High School of New Haven hosted Boyd, other Grammy artists and industry professionals Monday, so students could learn about careers in the industry and how to prepare for them.

Boyd’s talk led off the three-hour session.

Patrick Smith, coordinator of Fine Arts Music for New Haven Public Schools, started the Grammy in the Schools program with the Los Angeles based-Grammy Museum a few years ago, he said.  

New Haven is the first public school district in the country to partner with the Grammy Museum, said Smith, who is a 2017 Grammy Signature School Community Award winner and was nominated for the Grammy Music Educator Award in 2022. 

The day was meant to “inform the kids about how you actually make your entry into the upper echelons of the music industry once they get out of high school,” he said.

During the assembly, Boyd told the students he’s more like a therapist when consulting with major recording artists before writing songs for them. 

“I might spend more time with the artists talking to them than I’m actually creating,” he said. “I want to know if you’re in love, you’re going through a heartbreak, where are you right now?” 

Smith often encourages his students to be resilient when trying to make it in the industry.

“A person on this path can get knocked down 10 times,” he said. “But they stand up 11 times. You just keep trying and when you hit a roadblock in your development, it’s not a place to stop, it’s a place to begin.”

Legend Dyer, 17, of New Haven, hopes to be one of them. He played piano as a child, and has always been interested in music, he said. He plays the viola, he said, which “resonated with me.” 

Going to shows at Yale University’s Woolsey Hall, Dyer said, has been emotional experiences.

“It’s a good feeling,” he said. “Watching people perform, I was like, ‘I want to do this, too.’ I want to try to convey what those artists and performers gave to me.”

He plans on pursuing a dual degree in music performance and music education. 

His mother told him music would be a good part-time job, but not necessarily a career.

“You can make money off of music, but it’s just having those connections, and if you’re there and you’re willing to work, you can do it,” he said.

Some New Haven youth have gone on to acclaimed careers in the music industry, Smith said.

Visual arts student Dana Terrace had a Disney Channel show called “Owl House.”

Latin Grammy Winner Marcos Sanchez produced the Best Album of the Year with singer Luis Fonsi, who won the 2017 Latin Grammy for Best Album.

Platinum artist Gabriel “GBliz” Blizman sang on “The Color Purple” song track, said Smith, who has worked with Sanchez and Blizman for 25 years.

Fallon Williams, 17, of New Haven, enjoys playing the violin, clarinet, bass clarinet and baritone saxophone but plans on pursuing a medical degree.

“That’s a thing that’s been agreed in my family and it’s what makes me happy, but I also enjoy making music,” she said.

While filling out college applications, she realized she couldn’t dedicate herself to medical school and pursue music at the same time.

“I still want to perform here and there outside of high school, but I just wouldn’t have the certification and degrees and all that stuff,” she said. “Music is more about the joy that you get from doing it. It’s not about what you do or don’t have, what you can and can’t do.”

Being a multi-instrumentalist encourages musicians to think out of the box, Williams said.

“It shifts your perspective,” she said. “You look at things from a different angle. When somebody says a sentence, instead of phrasing it one way, phrasing it a different way, and putting different emphasis on certain things changes an entire mindset.”