Settlement was integral in creating a life in music 

In 1974, six-year-old Darryl Harper’s mother learned that he could get generous financial aid to study at Settlement, and he started studying clarinet. Over the next 12 years Darryl made Settlement his second home – from clarinet to piano to composition and theory. His teachers – and fellow students – were inspirations to him, and when he was 16, he was introduced to jazz. It became his life’s work, as a touring jazz musician and academic (currently Visiting Associate Professor of Music at Amherst University). Darryl credits Settlement, its generous financial aid, dedicated teachers, and staff with changing his life: “I can count on one hand the number of organizations that provide the kind of quality and access to the arts that Settlement does. Schools like Settlement are rare.”