Putting Old Instruments to New Uses

Wanted: used musical instruments, of any age, and in just about any condition.

That long-unused flute you once played in the high school orchestra? The viola packed away, broken strings and all, in a neighbor’s attic? A dented French horn? The Young Musicians Foundation would welcome them all.

The Beverly Hills-based nonprofit organization, which aims to help musically gifted young people in Greater Los Angeles, is holding an “instrument drive” through the end of the year. It plans to refurbish the donated goods and add them to the pool of about 150 instruments it has purchased over the last few years. The instruments are lent to elementary and middle schools in some of the city’s grittiest neighborhoods.

“Many studies have shown the benefits of music education, especially in developing character and discipline, but students cannot learn to play an instrument if they don’t have one,” said Edye Rugolo, the foundation’s executive director.

“School music programs are spread thin, and for many families, purchasing an instrument is beyond their means. People who donate instruments are giving the benefits of music education to hundreds of children who would not otherwise have this opportunity,” Rugolo said.

Founded in 1955, the Young Musicians Foundation aims to encourage and recognize budding artists through financial aid, opportunities to perform and music education projects. It offers 11 programs, ranging from interactive concerts at elementary schools to a Debut Orchestra to give accomplished musicians, ages 14 to 25, professional-level experience.

The foundation runs a summer orchestra camp and a series of chamber music concerts, and it helps talented but needy youngsters pay for lessons and equipment. This year, the foundation awarded $48,000 in scholarships to 61 musicians, ages 9 to 25.

The instrument drive is aimed at augmenting the loan project of the foundation’s Youth Mentor Artists Program. That program teams leading members of the Debut Orchestra with teachers and students at 23 Los Angeles Unified School District campuses in the city’s urban core. The foundation’s mentors provide individual lessons, work with school musical groups, and organize performances aimed at awakening a child’s interest and musical talent.

Leslie Valencia, 10, is a fifth-grader who took up flute last year at Alexandria Avenue Elementary School at the south end of Hollywood. She draws inspiration from foundation mentor Abel Delgado.

“I want to be a musician and help kids who are beginners, just like Abel is helping me,” Leslie said.

She admits the flute wasn’t her first choice. She really wanted a clarinet, but the school had none available, so she gave the flute a try--and soon got hooked.

“It was hard at first,” Leslie said, “but I practiced and practiced, and I got so good, I got to do a solo” at the school’s year-end performance last year.

“I started to really like the flute, the sound and the shape it is,” Leslie said.

Alexandria Avenue’s principal, Peter Riddall, said the foundation has proved a valuable addition to the school’s music program, which includes a vocal music teacher five days a week and an instrumental music teacher two days a week at the school of 1,900 students. Some received foundation scholarships for private lessons that continued while students were “off track” at the year-round school.

“It’s very popular with both the students and the parents,” Riddall said, adding that the benefit of having four foundation mentors on campus extends beyond music:

“It’s great that the kids see young people doing things with such enthusiasm and with such love for the instruments.”

Five campuses participate in the foundation’s loan program, which allows students to check out instruments for the school year so they can practice at home. Alexandria Avenue has its own instruments and therefore is not included in the loan program.

The approximately $500 to $600 cost to buy an instrument puts it well beyond the means of most of the families at those schools, said Mike Duckworth, the foundation’s programs director. So, by using grants and private donations and by taking advantage of “some great deals” it has worked out with retailers, the foundation launched its instrument loan program about five years ago, buying 30 to 40 instruments each year.

On Wednesday, the foundation will celebrate the addition of another 50 instruments to its loan pool, bringing the total to 200, with a ceremony at Los Angeles Elementary School in Koreatown. Latin jazz drummer Poncho Sanchez will perform to mark the launch of the foundation’s first school percussion program.

But the need for instruments continues, so foundation officials decided to try their luck with the used instrument drive.

So far, response has been tepid, with the drive netting just a few instruments, mainly violins. But foundation officials hope the pace will pick up once word gets out about the drive.

“A lot of people don’t realize the value of the instruments they have sitting in a closet,” Duckworth said. “We can refurbish them, and they can last for decades.”

The Young Musicians Foundation can be reached through its Web site, https://www.ymf.org, or at (310) 859-7668.