Murray Middle School silenced 85 instruments.
Wear and tear from years of band and orchestra practice, the brass dented, the strings frayed, and repair costs could exceed St. Paul Public School’s repair budget.
When it gets tough, the school band sells chocolate. But it costs him $168.25 to repair one flute. I need a lot of chocolate to fix this.
So Murray Middle School found another fix.
Adopt an instrument. An online fundraiser — the collaborative effort of one dedicated music teacher, many enthusiastic parents, and the creative minds of a middle school student — has generated extra pennies from everyone who turns to it for weeks. has fascinated
All 85 instruments with names and dramatic backstories, brought to you by young musicians who can’t wait to play. When a flute is named and that name is his Whappy Stick, flute repair takes on a new urgency.
“One day I was being played, and suddenly my player dropped me.” Whappy Stick the Flute story begins. Only $168.25 to adoption and redemption. “‘The Horrors!’ Everyone screamed. When I fell into the case, I broke it. Please fix me. I’m sad.”
Murray’s Adopt an Instrument page is a grid of names, pictures and harrowing stories. Click on each image to link to Cadenza Music’s donation page. Cadenza Music is a renowned St. Paul music store that repairs instruments as quickly as donors can donate a few or hundreds of dollars. Already half of the instruments are stamped with the triumphant “ADOPTED”.
Donations flooded in to repair the string-based Bluu, which needed a new bridge. Bournetrom, a trombone with a broken slide. Tenor saxophonist Lady Layla in need of a new neck cork.
Nijia Wheeler, 13, a band member in the seventh grade, said, “Everyone is helping me. My heart is very happy.”
More than half of Murray students qualify for free or reduced lunches. Students were amazed to see a stranger donate her as much as $400 in one go to restore the instrument.
Ellis Helmer, 14, an eighth grader who plays trumpet and baritone horn, said: “This music program means a lot to the school and to the students.”
Helmer created backstories for several instruments, including the bass clarinet Bonnie. This is a loving single mom who is a bit ‘out of shape and disheveled’ after 10 years of being constantly on the move. A charming donor, he donated $228 to get Bonnie the care she needs.
Music teacher Denae Olsen discovered a pile of damaged instruments when she started teaching at Murray this year. The pandemic has hit instruments as hard as music students. It’s time to start making music again.
“Students are great,” said Olsen. “They are very optimistic and hard working.”
With the end of the year school concert approaching, Olsen’s students chose a difficult song for the performance. It meant more work and practice for the band and orchestra, but the students wanted a challenge.
“They’ll all be family,” she said, as the students entered the music room and started the fun noise of the band warming up. It’s fun to see it come back after
When school budgets get tight, music tends to be the first thing cut. But music can help students learn. Music enhances math and science skills and improves reading comprehension.
“Music is the reason kids come to school sometimes,” said Robin Lorenzen, the district’s performing arts program coordinator. “I hope people will understand the importance of music in our school and society as a whole.”
Best of all, music makes learning fun. In St. Paul, music lessons mean everything from choirs to video game soundtrack-making lessons.
“Bands are my favourite. They’re not boring,” said Wheeler, a seventh grader. “Personally, I think the Murray Middle School beginner band is the best beginner band of all the beginner bands.”
Needless to say, her band teacher, who personally played all the instruments in the storage room and found the ones that didn’t make beautiful music, is the best beginner band teacher.
“Without her, I wouldn’t have gone from alto saxophone to bassoon,” Wheeler said. “Now I can play both. I feel versatile. It’s so cool. I can play bassoon. I can play alto.”
Wheeler is excited to see who will adopt Altersha. Altasha is an alto his saxophone whose keys are shaky and with a dramatic backstory full of tropical beaches, sibling rivalries, and a fall into the ocean.
For more information about Altasha and her bandmates, visit adaptaninstrument.com.
