This past Wednesday marked the first day of Be Instrumental, a musical instrument drive to benefit students at the Ticonderoga Elementary School. Professor Evan Mack, who teaches musical composition and piano at Skidmore, was the one who came up with the program’s idea after his son came home from school and said that some of his friends were playing plastic instruments or instruments that were held together by tape.
Due to recent budget cuts, the Ticonderoga Elementary School can’t replace their current instruments with shiny new ones. Since many students and their family cannot afford to buy new instruments, they are left with no other option but to play the old instruments, some of which are 90 years old.
“Everyone deserves a fair shake,” says Professor Mack. “It’s hard enough to make a beautiful sound on a very good instrument if you’re learning it for the first time, so imagine you’re in fourth grade and starting to learn to play the trumpet with a completely bent bell or a valve stick.”
Photos provided by Sara Miga.
Professor Mack teamed up with students Madison Pappas ‘22 and Neil Mellstrom ‘20 to help create the drive. Originally, Professor Mack was thinking that they could get the word out by posting ads in academic buildings and social media, but Pappas and Mellstrom were the ones who suggested that they host a fundraising concert for the drive in Falstaffs.
With the help of Lively Lucy’s, Pappas and Mellstrom put together a concert featuring five student performances and one outside band. Student DJ Lilly Walsh, also known as Lil Lil, started off the concert, and was followed by student music groups Skim Milf, Henry Raker and the Fun Guy, Nunno, and Sam Horn and Ammi Morrison. The concert was then finished by Pools, an alternative-electronic pop group.
The price of admission was an instrument or a monetary donation of any amount. The concert raised $400 from student donations, which was matched by an anonymous donor, for a total of $800.
Several local organizations and businesses have gotten involved with Be Instrumental as well. Esperanto, Kru Coffee, and SmashBurger are offering incentives to customers. The Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) will provide a special classical music package to whoever donates the most instruments. Cole’s Woodwind Shop and Saratoga Guitar & Music Center have volunteered to repair any donated instruments for free before they are distributed to schools.
After the drive’s first two drop off days, approximately 60 instruments have been donated by students, faculty, and members of the Saratoga Springs community. The majority of the donated instruments come from high quality brands, and seem to have been barely used. A few instruments need minor repairs, but the biggest problem is really only dust collection in some of them.
The drive has a collected a wide variety of instruments, such as a trombone, three drum kits, an alto saxophone, and an electric guitar given by a member of the band Skim Milf. Pappas disclosed that the “white whale” instrument that the Ticonderoga school hopes to receive is the baritone saxophone, since their current one is from 1929.
The next and last chance to donate is 9 a.m. -1 p.m. this Saturday, Feb. 8 at the Arthur Zankel Music Center.