Thanks to the Steinway Society of Central Florida, a number of students learned a new musical skill over the summer through a program that teaches piano to underprivileged kids across Central Florida.  

Silvia Ferguson spent the summer teaching several students piano at the Dr. James R. Smith Neighborhood Center in Orlando.  Many of the kids are 9-and 10-year-old, and Ferguson said she remembers what it was like when she first learned how to play piano at an early age.

“I think I was almost 5, my teacher’s name was Mrs. Wagador in Long Island,” she said. “The biggest thing I remember as a child is moving my fingers — it just felt right, it felt good – and the faster I went the more it was fun.”

Nefertari Muhammad is learning just how powerful playing piano can be.

“It makes me feel really happy,” she said.

Ferguson said the discipline her students use while learning piano will transcend to other skills, subjects and facets of their lives.

“We have a report that we do twice a year — you can see that the music not only helps them focus, but to work with their academics because they’re very focus in here,” she said.

Along with ballet, Nefertari wants to use her growing musical skills when she grows up.

“The thing I like about it is that you can do it for fun, or do it professionally,” she said.

Nefertari's mother, Armanda Lilly, says her daughter is disappointed when piano class is over and it’s time to head home. She said she’s happy, though, that her daughter is getting the chance to learn something she otherwise wouldn’t be able to. 

“This would’ve not been an option,” she said. “They do have a lot of volleyball programs and cheer and dance, but piano? No, and I’m grateful for it, very grateful, and hopefully she can continue it.”

Ferguson not only enjoys sharing her joy of piano with her students, but she also enjoys her part in setting then on a successful course in life.

“So, if I can pour something in that’s going to make that child a positive person on the earth later on in life, or you know, they can develop skills that they can use later on, then I’m happy to be that person, I really am,” she said.

Officials with the Steinway Society of Central Florida say they plan to donate a piano to Nefertari, who excelled in the summer piano lessons. 

Ferguson says Steinway donates more than a dozen pianos to students who excel in the program each year. 

The society is having an event called “Divas in Concert” at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 11, at the Orlando Museum of Art, where money will be raised to help support the society’s continued work in the community.