Yamaha Helps Develop the Next Generation of Band Instrument Repair Techs, Donates to Texas HS Program
Buena Park, Calif. (PRWEB) November 05, 2015 -- Yamaha Corporation of America has donated more than $66,000 worth of wind instruments in need of repair to the Arlington Independent School District in Arlington, Texas. The district is offering the first high school program in the country to provide students with professional-level, hands-on instruction and experience refurbishing instruments.
Voters in the Arlington Independent School District recently passed a $663 million bond, part of which will be used to enhance this music education initiative that is designed to address the national shortage of qualified band instrument repair technicians.
Yamaha donated marching mellophones, trumpets, sousaphones, saxophones, a marching tuba and a trombone to support the program, which is a public-private partnership between the school district and Music & Arts, the largest band and orchestra instrument retailer in the nation. Initially, the program will be housed at Bowie High School and will eventually move into the district’s new $32 million fine arts center, slated for completion in 2018. Music & Arts supplies the instructor and ensures that students who successfully compete the two-year program are apprenticeship-ready. Music & Arts has already lined up participating students with summer jobs in the field.
According to District Fine Arts Director Jeremy Earnhart, participation in music education programs has jumped 22 percent as the district bolsters its offerings and upgrades its facilities, illustrating the appeal of music and art in the region.
“Without this donation from Yamaha, we would have had to wait for our students’ instruments to become unusable,” said Earnhart. “This pioneering program allows our students to learn on professional quality instruments and it exposes them to a wide variety of wind instruments that they would not otherwise have had an opportunity to work on.”
For more information, visit http://4wrd.it/YAMAHAUSA.
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About Yamaha
Yamaha Corporation of America (YCA) is one of the largest subsidiaries of Yamaha Corporation, Japan and offers a full line of award-winning musical instruments, sound reinforcement, commercial installation and home entertainment products to the U.S. market. Products include: Yamaha acoustic, digital and hybrid pianos, portable keyboards, guitars, acoustic and electronic drums, band and orchestral instruments, marching percussion products, synthesizers, professional digital and analog audio equipment, Steinberg recording products and NEXO commercial audio products, as well as AV receivers, amplifiers, MusicCast wireless multiroom audio systems, Blu-ray/CD players, earphones, headphones, home-theater-in-a-box systems, sound bars and its exclusive line of Digital Sound Projectors. YCA markets innovative, finely crafted technology and entertainment products and musical instruments targeted to the hobbyist, education, worship, music, professional audio installation and consumer markets.
Marc Ferris, Giles Communications, +1 (914) 798-7121, [email protected]
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