28 Jan: Musical Instrument Amnesty, Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club
Follow the stars, and look out that neglected fiddle or flute, and help kickstart a young person's musical education
Have you got an unused musical instrument languishing in a cupboard? Perhaps your budding musician has moved up to a larger or better instrument. Perhaps something handed down through the family has not appealed to the next generation. Or maybe an instrument was tried and put aside in favour of another one entirely.
In our household, we plead guilty to one trombone and two half-sized violins (the latter found in a skip). And now we know just what to do with them. On Saturday 28 January 2023, from 10am to 3pm, we can hand them in at Ronnie Scott's. In partnership with Julian Lloyd Webber’s charity, Sistema England, they will be brought up to scratch, and passed on to young would-be musicians. And who knows what a difference that could make to a young life?
Your unplayed trumpet could become a youngster's new best friend
Big-name donors in past years have included TV's Jools Holland, KT Tunstall and The Vamp’s James McVey. So far, 350 instruments have been given to young people to help support their music education. Kinetika Bloco, a performance group in Tulse Hill, and Play for Progress in Croydon are among the beneficiaries.
The Grammy and Brit award-winning Sam Smith donated a white violin from his iconic 2015 Brit performance of ‘Lay Me Down’. The violin went from London to the MusicArt Society, a charity in Nepal which teaches disadvantaged children to play donated instruments.
So, if that recorder, cello or tuba is looking plaintively at you, give it a new home. Drop a line to ada@ronniescotts.co.uk and then pop in to the legendary Frith Street club. Stop for a cuppa or a glass of fizz: you never know which musical star might be doing the same.
