
At a recent gathering on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, a small crowd filled the salon of pianist and educator Paul Sheftel. This was the last of several such events, all held in private spaces around the city during 2013 and 2014, all organized to raise funds for the Mali Nyeta organization, a foundation oversees education and public health projects in Mali and the surrounding areas. One of the projects, an elementary school, even bears the name “l’Ecole Paul Sheftel.”