For 31 years, Stephanie Colman taught music at Broward County elementary schools.
Stephanie Colman with Rena Sydel and their son Jonathan Sydel
She loved teaching music, but found she had little energy or desire to play once she came home from work. However, since retiring from teaching, Colman is making up for lost time by both performing music and being involved in local music organizations.
The Boca Pointe resident performs with the South Florida Pride Wind Ensemble. She and her violinist wife Rena Sydel (together 50 years) along with their 29-year-old autistic son Jonathan Sydel (who plays drums, xylophone and bells) perform at Pride’s thrice-yearly concerts, which have raised $150,000 in college scholarships for 150 kids in the last eight years.
“It all started when I heard through the grapevine that the Pride Wind Ensemble was devoted to gays. I just showed up one night, nine years ago,” Colman, 70 says.
Besides playing piano and percussion for seven years, Colman served as the nonprofit’s unpaid personnel director; registering musicians and being responsible for COVID-19 protocols. She went on hiatus a couple of months ago but has plans to return.
The organization is how she became friends with Gary Burton, jazz vibraphonist and seven-time Grammy winner. They served on the board together.
“Not only did Gary play with Chick Corea, my favorite pianist, he is a gay man and an ally,” Colman says. “We consult him on touring and performing, given his many years of experience.”
A highlight for the South Florida Pride Wind Ensemble (with 65 plus musicians) is producing an annual concert with the Youth Pride Band, open to all high school students in South Florida and providing them with the opportunity to rehearse and perform with professional musicians. The kids meet other band students, unite against bullying and celebrate diversity through music, Colman said. In the last eight years, over 150 students have received one thousand dollar scholarships.
The next concert will be Feb. 26 at 7 pm at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts (Amaturo Theater). The conductor is composer Julie Giroux, a multiple Emmy Awards-winning composer for modern wind ensemble and symphonic band music.
Colman says her family is a talented trio that plays together and stays together. She and her wife adopted their son at four months from Paraguay.
She adds, “We knew he was ill and healed his physical problems. But he has some neurological problems and has trouble conversing and making friends. We nurtured his innate musical talent, and he is a savant.”
For more information about the South Florida Pride Wind Ensemble, call 954-667-9228 or visit pridewindensemble.org.