Classical musicians share their craft with inmates at Broad River Correctional

Eric Genuis has been touring prisons across the country for twenty years

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) —For the last twenty years, a classically-trained piano player has been visiting prisons across the country to share the gift of music.

On Wednesday, he brought a group of world-class musicians inside the walls of Broad River Correctional Institution.

Behind walls where some think hope is lost, Eric Genuis says every note on a piano and every cry of a violin can go a long way for each member of his audience.

“Here people feel dejected, they feel judged, they feel put down, they feel ostracized and often they are. It’s all about people and it’s all about sharing,” Genuis said.

For twenty years, Genuis and a team of musicians have gone inside prisons to bring the sounds of a symphony right to them.

“There’s something that touches them, like beauty, in a way that they’ve never been moved before. The point is, why would I not give them that,” Genuis said.

Genuis has traveled all over the country, and toured places like Slovakia and Australia.

Even with a world of experience under his belt, he says his most meaningful performances are beyond the prison walls.

“I never envisioned it. So glad it worked out this way, you know. You think, oh, is the goal Carnegie Hall? Carnegie Hall is bricks. These are just different bricks. I have an ability to write music that moves them, and when you see them, the response, you think, there’s a bit of their humanity back,” Genuis said.

Genuis and his band played three shows today at Broad River and Goodman prisons. They will play five shows in prisons across the state over the next two days.