Have an instrument at home that you’re not using? Put it to good use! Newport Festivals Foundation and local music shop, Newport Music, have created a partnership to donate gently used instruments to schools on Aquidneck Island. Starting today, all are welcome to bring used instruments to Newport Music on Bellevue Ave and Newport Festivals Foundation will cover the costs to “clean up” and/or make minor repairs. Once the instrument is ready, Newport Festivals Foundation will match it with a public school on Aquidneck Island.  

To celebrate the partnership, they have donated fourteen instruments to Thompson, Rogers, and Pell including trumpets, cellos, violins, clarinets, and trombones. 

Said Jay Sweet, Executive Director of Newport Festivals: “We feel a responsibility to ensure that anyone in Newport County who wants to play music can – regardless of their socioeconomic status. That’s why we love this partnership. It provides instruments to students from Aquidneck Island who otherwise might not be able to afford them, it supports our local music shop, and it provides our festival community with a way to give back. As a nonprofit that supports music education, our generous fans constantly ask if we take used instruments. Newport Music provides that expertise to fix them up and we work to place them in schools. It’s a no-brainer.” 

Donated instruments must be hand delivered to Newport Music and not shipped. Staff will evaluate each instrument and decide if they’re worth taking in. 

Newport Music is located at 142 Bellevue Ave, Newport, RI 02840

“We are excited to partner with Newport Festivals on this initiative,” said Phil Williams, owner of Newport Music. “I cannot overstate how important it is for us to get instruments in the hands of those that really need them.  It pleases me to no end to make this dream a reality for so many kids in our community who would otherwise miss out on music altogether.”   

Newport Festivals Foundation is encouraging Rhode Island public school teachers and administrators to reach out with any instrument needs – info@newportfestivals.org

Don’t live in Newport? Newport Festivals Foundation has also partnered with Rick’s Musical Instruments in Cumberland and Bravo Musical Instruments in Rehoboth, MA. Residents of northern Rhode Island or southern Massachusets can drop their instruments off at the following locations: 

Address for Rick’s Musical Instruments:

2352 Mendon Road, Cumberland, RI 02864

Address for Bravo Musical Instruments

Mills Plaza II, 492 Winthrop Street #8, Rehoboth, MA 02769

Funding for this program is provided by Mark and Evelina Taber, The Bazarsky Family Foundation, and the Carol Keefe and Thomas DePetrillo Instrument Donation Fund.