Tomorrow is national music day and at least one local musical institution is getting into the act.
Founded in 1956, Milwaukee’s MelkMusic is well-known to at least a couple of generations of area kids and parents, as well as to many area music teachers and schools, for their band and orchestra instrument rentals and repairs.
Nathan Honore is the assistant manager of Melk Music which started as a purely band instrument repair shop. Repairs of that sort are a specialized skill that is necessary for band instruments - instruments that are in demand in the area for affordable prices.
Though their reparations and rentals focus on band instruments, the company is planning to incorporate acoustic guitars into its work this summer. Honore says the addition will cement more rock oriented roots into its work.
Honore says though music programs in some schools are diminishing, Melk's business hasn't suffered much as a result.
Honore says a bigger impediment for kids is often instruments that are in poor condition.
The National Music Day tradition is relatively young - tomorrow will represent Milwaukee's first commemoration of the event.
Melk Music will among those present at Alterra on the LakeFriday June 21st from 10-3, bringing a collection of instruments for people to try. Honore says it's geared towards a pretty wide swath - “people [who] have played daily, haven’t played in 40 years or never have played an instrument."
