Don Deutsch remembers his son Jonathan as someone who loved music almost as much as he loved life.
“He did everything with fervor,” said Don Deutsch. “We were always telling Jonathan that he should do things in more moderation.”
Jonathan’s love of life rubbed off on everyone who knew him, said Don Deutsch, and even after his death in a car accident in 2002, Jonathan Deutsch still provides inspiration and challenges for others to take up.
An award given by the Potomac Community Center in his name challenges all Montgomery County high school students — public or private — to take jazz and musical improvisation to new levels. The award is going into its third year and is currently taking applications. All students who attend high school in Montgomery County, or Montgomery County residents who attend school outside the county, are welcome to apply, said Penny Helzer of the Potomac Community Center.
“In the spirit of my brother,” said Erik Deutsch, who judges the award entries, “we’re looking for someone who is creative and unique and also someone who is serious about their instrument and about music.”
JONATHAN DEUTSCH was a devoted amateur jazz piano player, said his father.
“He was really a multi-talented young man, including music which was a true love of his,” said Don Deutsch.
Jonathan Deutsch grew up in Potomac and graduated from Winston Churchill High School and Herbert Hoover Middle School. He attended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he continued to play music whenever and however he could — in jazz ensembles, in bars — but while in college he realized that he did not have enough talent to make it as a professional musician, said Don Deutsch.
“At some point … he realized that he had the love and the passion, but not enough of the skill,” said Don Deutsch.
That realization wasn’t going to stop him from being involved in music, said Don Deutsch. After graduating from college, Jonathan returned to Washington, D.C. where he worked for a year as a trade analyst and was accepted into American University Law School for the fall of 2002. His plan was to study entertainment law and ultimately work in the music industry, said Don Deutsch.
“[Jonathan] was very well-rounded,” said Erik Deutsch. “He really was good at everything, and music was one of many things that he loved.”
Jonathan Deutsch was driving to California that summer to explore law school options there when he was killed in a car accident, said Don Deutsch. Jonathan’s mother and father had moved to California while Jonathan was in college, but happened to be in Potomac at the time of Jonathan’s death, and his funeral was held there.
“Of course this was devastating to us,” said Don Deutsch, “but it was a wonderful thing that we were there with our former neighbors and friends in the Potomac community and … were able to have Jonathan’s friends in the area be able to get to us and for us to be with them.”
Jonathan’s funeral was held in a church in Potomac Village, and former friends and neighbors opened their homes for the Deutsches to accept visitors and well-wishers, said Don Deutsch.
“Jonathan’s mother and I can’t be appreciative enough for the outpouring of support that we got.”
WHEN FRIENDS of the Deutsch family made inquiries about donations in the wake of Jonathan’s death, the family’s thoughts turned to a place where Jonathan had spent a large portion of his youth playing and working.
“They said, ‘If you want to do something, donate money to the [Potomac] Community Center,” said Helzer. “Pretty soon we had this huge puddle of money that we didn’t know what to do with.”
Helzer worked with Don and Erik Deutsch to develop the idea of the Jonathan T. Deutsch Memorial Arts Award.
“We wanted to do something that would give to the community and have it be something that would last,” said Erik Deutsch, who is a professional jazz piano player; he recently returned from tours with Charlie Hunter and Erin McKeown.
The award encourages musical creativity, and while it is jazz-oriented, that is a wide umbrella, said Erik Deutsch.
“We’re using the word ‘jazz,’ but it can really be anything,” said Erik Deutsch. “Jazz has expanded to include so many different kinds of music. … I tend to think that jazz now kind of includes all improvised music. There was a time when all jazz music had a swing beat to it, but that’s not the case anymore. Plenty of jazz music that has rock beats, or Latin beats, or African beats.”
In the first two years of the award, Penny Helzer was taken aback by how musically talented the area’s students are.
“We’ve gotten all kinds of musicians, I’m shocked by how many of the students play multiple instruments,” said Helzer. The top prize wins $500, and the second and third-place winners each receive $250, said Helzer.
The point of the award, said Don Deutsch, is to encourage others to pursue their creative dreams as Jonathan Deutsch would have done.
“This is sort of bittersweet for us because it brings it all back, but its also a pleasant way to remember our son,” said Don Deutsch. “I hope it’s something that serves the community well.”
Erik Deutsch can only imagine what his brother would think about an award in his name.
“I think he would be pretty flattered,” said Erik Deutsch. “I think he would think it was hilarious and pretty cool.”