Category: Instruments in the Attic

Categories
Community Outreach Instruments in the Attic Music

Connecting Instruments With Musicians

Day Violins with violin donation

Our Instruments in the Attic program recently connected Shenandoah University international student Gerson Medina with a rare and unique violin donation to assist with his music education.

Earlier this year, we had received a very nice Brandilioni-crafted violin from a generous donor. What made the instrument extra-special was that it had at one time been played by violin virtuoso Jascha Heifetz! Through a connection made by Instruments in the Attic advocate (and Potomac board member) Jenna Day of Day Violins, we offered Gerson the opportunity to use the violin for his lessons with Professor Akemi Takayama.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZXxL7kppzc

 

Gerson is a young artist with an impressive background. He started his violin lessons at the age of 12 at “EL Sistema” in Colon city, Venezuela. He has played as a soloist with the youth orchestra of San Juan de Colon and Merida Symphony Orchestra, and he participated in the 4th Festival of the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra. Gerson was the winner of the 1st prize in the Category “A” of the Violin Competition organized by the “Festival y Academia del Nuevo Mundo” in Maracaibo city. He has studied with the professors Shawn Moore, Alexis Cárdenas, José Francisco del Castillo, Latin-American string quartet, Benjaming Sung, Virginie Robilliad, Yura Lee, Daniel Philips, Vladimir Dyo and Simon Gollo. He was musical teacher at “El Sistema” in Venezuela for 4 years in Colon city. He is currently attending Shenandoah University.

 

LEARN MORE ABOUT INSTRUMENTS IN THE ATTIC

Categories
Community Outreach Instruments in the Attic Music Publicity

Outreach Program Featured in Paper

French Horn donation

Our Instruments in the Attic outreach program was recently featured in an article in the Lifestyle section of the April 4th edition of Fourth Estate, the student newspaper at Mason.

The article titled “Instruments in the Attic gives old instruments new life”, written by Basma Humadi, describes the it as “A new outreach program …. spreading tunes in a new way by collecting used musical instruments for children and students to give them a second life.”

 

IiAFourthEstateArticle04Apr2016Web

 

Jeremy Cochran, Mason Doctoral student and current intern for the Instruments in the Attic, assists with the day-to-day work of the program. “It’s almost like a library, you can come in and check [an instrument] out if you want,” Cochran said. “The purpose of it is to serve Mason music students who might need it for playing a second instrument or for one of their methods courses… [also] there are a lot of needs out there for kids who want to play in band or orchestra and aren’t able to get an instrument.” Through a growing network of collaborations with local and regional schools, IiA is helping to get instruments to those kids.

“This really is recycling on steroids,” Libby Curtis, Director of Potomac Arts Academy, was quoted as saying when describing the program. “We want nothing to go to the landfill.” Besides donating usable instruments to musicians, Instruments in the Attic turns instruments that are past their prime into art projects.

 

PotomacMSpixCWeb

 

To read the full article, please pick up a hard copy of the April 4th edition of Fourth Estate. Thanks to Basma and the Fourth Estate for choosing to write this story and spotlight this wonderful outreach program.

 

LEARN MORE ABOUT INSTRUMENTS IN THE ATTIC

 

 

 

Categories
Community Outreach Instruments in the Attic Music

IiA – A Violinist In The Making

Nicholas playing violin

Jenna Day of Day Violins recently teamed up with Potomac’s Instruments in the Attic program to bring the joy of music to one very enthusiastic youngster, whose family was going through some hardship.

“I was at an instrument petting zoo event recently when a young boy named Nicholas and his mother came by,” said Jenna. “We started talking and I showed him several musical instruments. Throughout the two hour event, Nicholas kept coming back around again and again to the violins. He would patiently wait until I was done with another child and then eagerly smile at me and ask to try the violin again.”

IiANicholasFeb2016G

By the end of the event, it was clear to both Jenna and Nicholas’ mother that he was very interested in the violin. When Jenna epxressed that he should start lessons, his mother explained that because Nicholas’ younger brother had just been in the hospital and hefty medical bills were looming, buying an instrument was not an option at this time. Jenna immediately thought about the Instruments in the Attic program, with its mission to provide recycled used musical instruments to deserving young musicians. When Jenna mentioned the program to them, Nicholas said, “You mean, I could have a violin to play all summer?”

In fact, Potomac Arts Academy Director Libby Curtis  arranged to loan a violin to Nicholas for the entire year!

“Nicholas is thrilled! He spent the rest of the afternoon looking up music for the violin on YouTube and actually found some easy songs to follow allow with,” his mother said. “He was very intent on learning ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ and is actually pretty close! He is one excited kid!! Thank you so much for all you are doing to get him an instrument, it is truly appreciated!”

IiANicholasFeb2016EWeb

“Instruments in the Attic is such an amazing program,” said Jenna Day. “It provides instruments to children from all walks of life, who otherwise would be unable to experience the joy of music! Thank you, Instruments in the Attic and the Potomac Arts Academy for making another child smile!”

The Academy would like to thank Jenna Day for assisting us with helping to make Nicholas’ musical dreams come true, despite life’s challenges. We also give a heartfelt thanks to our generous community members who have donated their used musical instruments and funds for instrument repair. We hope you enjoy seeing your donations in action!

 

 

LEARN MORE ABOUT INSTRUMENTS IN THE ATTIC

 

Categories
Community Outreach Instruments in the Attic

IiA Helps College Students Succeed

University students with violins

Shenandoah University students Guang Jin and Eli Thomas were both struggling to keep up with their musical studies due in large part to the quality of the instruments they were using. Through a connection between their professor and Jenna Day of Day Violins, IiA stepped in to help.

ShenandoahStudentsJan2016A

 

Due to financial hardships, Guang and Eli found it necessary to borrow instruments to practice with. Guang borrowed his violin from the Dean of the college, and Eli borrowed a violin from one of his friends. Neither violin was of particularly good quality. Their professor, Akemi Takayama, became alarmed when Guang’s violin needed to be returned and Eli’s violin continued to deteriorate. Akemi and Potomac Arts Academy board member Jenna Day connected with each other and discussed the possibility of using Instruments in the Attic to assist.

With the help of Day Violins, we were able to identify and repair two quality violins that had been donated by generous community members who no longer had a need for them. These instruments were put on loan and delivered in January, to the great surprise and delight of the students, and the joy and relief of their professor.

ShenandoahStudentsJan2016F

Guang Kim is Korean Chinese. He was born and raised in the northeastern part of China and started learning violin with his aunt, a Chinese violin professor, at age 14. Guang came to United States in 2011 to study music abroad. First, Guang studied under the Louisville Symphony Orchestra violinist Kimberly Griffiths Tichenor in Campbellsville University of Kentucky. In 2015, after finishing his master degree of violin performance in Kentucky, Guang moved to Winchester, Virginia study under Professor Akemi Takayama. Currently Guang is an artist diploma student at Shenandoah Conservatory and a member of school’s symphony orchestra.
Read more

Guang comes from a low income family from China, and as a result he often struggled with his financial situations due to tuition and high living expenses in the United States. He won the full scholarship in Campbellsville University of Kentucky which made it possible for him to finish his musical study. To support and continue his musical career, Guang took up various jobs such as translator, coordinator and waiter in Los Angeles to save up for upcoming tuition after graduation from Campbellsville University. The Shenandoah Conservatory has also offered scholarship for him to keep his musical career since August, 2015. This school should be his last station to do his musical preparation and he believes with the completion of training from Shenandoah Conservatory, he will be confident and ready to audition for major symphony orchestra in the United States, China or South Korea. Guang wishes that he can be an excellent violinist and a violin professor in the future and also wishes he could truly contribute to the art of violin with his talent.

 

ShenandoahStudentsJan2016E

 

Eli Thomas was born and raised in San Diego, California, and moved to Winchester, Virginia in 2012 to study the violin under Professor Akemi Takayama. He is currently a master’s student at Shenandoah Conservatory and assistant concertmaster of the school’s symphony orchestra, which toured Spain in 2014. He is also a member of the Bluefire String Quartet, a group that performs exciting arrangements of jazz standards as well as originals. Eli comes from a large family, with a twin brother and four other siblings living in California, and won a scholarship that made it possible for him to attend Shenandoah University. He makes ends meet via teaching, busking, and playing at weddings, and also directs a small youth orchestra in Jefferson County, West Virginia. In his spare time he is an avid bread baker and enjoys cycling when the weather is warm.

We are thrilled with this success story, and wish Guang and Eli good fortune as they strive to be the best musicians that they can be. None of this would be possible without instrument donations and financial gifts from compassionate and conscientious community members. Look for more stories about the Instruments in the Attic program and its impact on the community and the world!

 

LEARN MORE ABOUT INSTRUMENTS IN THE ATTIC