New York, NY (Top40 Charts) John Blythe leads a workshop for local music educators at
Music & Arts' "The Repair Shop."
We're the largest repair network in the United States, but at the heart of it all is a team of skilled experts who believe in their mission of giving instruments the finest care possible.
Three years ago,
Music & Arts opened a 112,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art, musical instrument repair, refurbishment and distribution center called "The Repair Shop" near its headquarters in Frederick; it is the largest operation of its kind in the country repairing and refurbishing about 203,000 instruments annually.
Much like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, the general public has never been given the opportunity to see The Repair Shop's large, multi-faceted operation up-close until now. The company selected 32 music educators from the surrounding area to receive an exclusive guided tour of the facility and offered two free workshops from renowned instrument repair technicians, John Blythe and Kirk Evans.
"As an elementary instrumental teacher, I often have small issues that need attention," said Steven Visco, instrument music teacher,
Prince George's County Public Schools. "I'm glad I could come to The Repair Shop because now I have even more information to use in addressing those issues to get students playing again without having to wait weeks for the instrument to be sent out."
The Repair Shop facility was built from the perspective of the technician.
Natural light, which is very desirable for technicians, fills the 20,000-square foot facility. Other features include buffing rooms, centralized parts departments, wet rooms with two ultrasonic machines, soldering stations, and humidity rooms which are all tied together with a high-tech dust collection system.
"The advanced technology and large space allows us to be extremely efficient while offering our customers the best service," said Pat Wiegand, director of repair and refurbishment services,
Music & Arts. "We're the largest repair network in the United States, but at the heart of it all is a team of skilled experts who believe in their mission of giving instruments the finest care possible."
About
Music & Arts
The first
Music & Arts, run by founder
Benjamin O'Brien, opened in 1952 and was located in a small house in Bethesda, MD. Still run by the O'Brien family today,
Music & Arts now has more than 500 retail and affiliate locations, 120 educational representatives and 33,000 lesson students making it the nation's largest school music retailer and lesson provider. Now based in Frederick, MD, the company of trained musicians offers friendly service for everything musical in your life including instruments, lessons, rentals and repairs. Visit MusicArts.com for more information.
