09 September, 2025

On August 8, 2025 I provided a Hohner sponsored Harmonikids session to young male participants at the Yavapai County Juvenile Justice Center in Prescott, Arizona. Over the years Harmonikids' ongoing programs to assist the youth in detention facilities have become among my personal favorites because the teen participants (many of whom have been neglected, abandoned, and/or abused in their young lives) receive much-needed self esteem and confidence from the experience. Harmonikids provides a healthy and positive form of creative expression and emotional release for detained youth in this crucial time in their lives. Simply stated, the lessons often become an inspiration for these adolescents to grow, change, forgive the world – and themselves. The harmonica often becomes a powerful but gentle tool to help kids get back on track. Long ago I learned to never underestimate the strength of music and the harmonica as a remarkable tool to reach out and make a difference in young lives. Feedback of the benefits Harmonikids provided to the troubled teens is described below in the attached notes received from facility school principal Marvy McNeese and teacher Christopher DeMember.

~ Gary Allegretto, Founding Director of Harmonikids, www.harmonikids.org

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Thank you so much Gary, for your fourth visit to Prescott Lakes Parkway School in Prescott, AZ. To take time out of your schedule and teach our students is more than generous and we sure appreciate that you do!

It was such a fun session and the students enjoyed it. That’s due to your passion for the harmonica, music, and kids. You are a gifted teacher – you kept an all-male audience in a juvenile detention facility engaged and participating! That is no small feat. I was concerned how this particular group would respond, but you had them all participating and having fun. They actually sounded good and in sync with each other! Very impressive. As for myself, one of my teachers, and the two detention officers in the room, we were having as much fun as the kids. We thank you too!

It was an interesting lesson in music history and I believe each student gained a new appreciation for genres of music outside of hip-hop and rap—you opened up their world. As for the harmonica, it’s not an instrument that comes to mind for our youth, but it does now! It was extremely generous of Hohner to give each student their own harmonica to keep, and I will tell you they have asked to play them everyday since you left. It’s pretty cool. You taught them so well that their playing is now a joyful sound ~ but I will say you mentioning being considerate of others and respecting whether or not they want to hear the harmonica is a life lesson that has a widespread application to them for just about everything.

I really appreciate you remembering us, and help to cultivate more harmonica players in Yavapai County with each visit. You are a master, and we are the beneficiaries of your talent and knowledge. Thank you and I look forward to your next visit!

~ Marvy McNeese, Principal, Prescott Lakes Parkway School, Yavapai County Juvenile Justice Center

Hi Gary,
It was a pleasure meeting you on Friday and learning the basic steps to playing the harmonica. You had the kids attention and they were as excited as I was to learn how to play. Like most there, I have never played a musical instrument in my life, but your delivery and explanation made it easy to follow and fun to learn! You had control of the room, which is a key in helping the students in attendance. This was a great experience for the kids… the young men asked me on Monday morning if they could play their harmonicas in class. You had a great impact on them. We were very fortunate to have you visit us.

~ Christopher J. DeMember, K-12 Certified Teacher Prescott Lakes Parkway School, Yavapai County Juvenile Justice Center