Category: Community Outreach

Our Instruments in the Attic program was recently featured in the Prince William section of the Washington Post, focusing on a cello that was loaned to Potomac High School in Dumfries, VA.

The article details how purely coincidental circumstances can bring about a very real, and very quick, solution. Through a series of events, good networking connections and collaborations, and a very organized outreach program, the Academy was able – in a matter of mere days – to provide a cello for a student in need at the local school. The effort was once again made possible by the generosity and talent of Day Violins, who repaired the instrument.

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Instruments in the Attic continues to gain momentum (and appreciation) in the local school districts as music budgets continue to be challenged. There is often very little funds available to purchase new instruments, which creates a vacuum of opportunity for students and hinders music program participation.

As donated used musical instruments (from generous people like you!) and monetary funds for repair get funnelled through the Academy, we are able to coordinate a successful network of outreach activities and to fulfill a very  real need in the community. We would like to give a special thanks to Washington Post writer Jonathan Hunley for highlighting this wonderful program!

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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.”

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.

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.

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