Musical Instrument M*A*S*H Unit

MUSICAL M*A*S*H UNIT TO FIX SCHOOL BAND INSTRUMENTS

 As part of it’s Community Day of Service, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation will set up a “musical instrument M*A*S*H unit” – a temporary repair shop for high school band programs – at the Musicians Village on Wednesday, April 28.

 “We know that many school music programs are trying to make do with instruments that are not in good working condition,” said Judge Ronald J. Sholes, president of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation’s board of directors. “The time has come for us to do what we can to help address this aspect of the very large challenges facing arts education. What we’re doing at our Community Day of Service is just a first step, but it’s an important one.”

In partnership with the Tipitina’s Foundation, which has provided instruments to more than 60 area schools through its Instruments A-Comin’ program, the Jazz & Heritage Foundation has identified a select number of schools whose instruments will be repaired at the M*A*S*H unit. These schools include: Warren Easton, St. Augustine and West Jefferson high schools, as well as the Roots of Music after-school program. Many instruments will be repaired on the spot; the rest will be evaluated to determine the extent of work needing to be done in the future.

“We’ve spent years putting instruments into our local schools through our program Instruments A-Comin,’ and, over the years, these instruments need maintenance,” said Mary von Kurnatowski, co-founder of the Tipitina’s Foundation. “The M*A*S*H initiative helps us continue to make an impact on our mission of preserving Louisiana music by keeping our instruments in good working order and therefore in the hands of our children.”

The Jazz & Heritage Foundation has recruited several local repair technicians who will work on instruments for the day. These include: Thomas Barbry, Martin Krusche, Michael Latino of Russell’s Band Instrument Repair and others.

In addition, Branford Marsalis – who created the Musicians Village along with Harry Connick, Jr. and New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity - is sending a repair technician from North Carolina, where Marsalis teaches, through the New Orleans Habitat Musicians' Village Foundation.

The musical instrument M*A*S*H unit will be set up just one block from where the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, named for the jazz patriarch, is under construction. A community center with a focus on music with performance, teaching, rehearsal and recording facilities, it is expected to open in 2011.

Students who bring their instruments for repair also will participate in educational clinics by Branford Marsalis, his brother Delfeayo Marsalis and trumpeter Shamarr Allen on proper care and maintenance of their instruments.

The musical instrument M*A*S*H unit takes place in conjunction with the second annual Community Day of Service, a volunteer day at the Musicians Village and other nearby Habitat For Humanity construction sites. More than 70 people have signed up to help paint, hammer, haul and do other construction work at the event, which is co-sponsored by community radio station WWOZ 90.7 FM.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation is the nonprofit organization that owns the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell. The Jazz & Heritage Foundation uses the proceeds from Jazz Fest, and other revenues, for year-round programs in the areas of education, economic development and cultural events. For more information, please visit www.jazzandheritage.org.

The Tipitina’s Foundation is a nonprofit organization originating from the world-famous music club Tipitina’s. The Tipitina’s Foundation supports childhood music education, the professional development of adult musicians and the increased profile and the viability of Louisiana music as a cultural, educational and economic resource. For more information about the Tipitina’s Foundation, please visit www.tipsfoundation.org. 

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