A New School Year, A New Instrument

If your child wants to make beautiful music, there is no shortage of ways to learn to play an instrument in the Monadnock Region. Of course, you can purchase one outright; but for many parents, renting is the way to go. Ellis Music has been renting brand-name instruments in the woodwinds, brass, percussion and strings families to the Keene School District parents since 2005. Rentals are monthly and range in price from $23 for a flute to $80 for a bassoon. The company also offers options to rent-to-own, pay off early at a discount and convert the rental into a payment plan for purchase. Parents can visit the company website (www.ellismusic.com) and select their child's school and sign up themselves. Owner David Ellis said generally the company rents twice as many woodwinds (flute, clarinet, saxophone) as brass (trumpet, trombone, french horn, euphonium). The last two or three years however, there has been an increase in the brass, especially trumpet and trombone. Music programs are getting started in the approximately 350 schools the company services in Vermont and New Hampshire. "Until COVID hit, business had been quite stable through the years," said Ellis. "Renting from Ellis Music has been inexpensive so renting has been affordable in good and bad economic times." Rousseau's Music in Jaffrey, a full-service music store (it opened in 2006), offers four or 10-month rentals on band instruments, as well as virtual lessons in guitar, keyboard/piano, drums/percussion, violin, and brass/woodwinds. For stringed instrument players, there's Acoustic Strings of New England on Mechanic Street in Keene, they offer instruments on a rent-to-own basis and also provide rentals to schools. For as many instrument rental businesses there are in the region, there are many more instructors available to offer lessons to school children. Keene Community Music Center, which employs professionals, teaches a large variety of instruments to students of all ages and abilities, in-person at the Maple Avenue facility and remotely. Director Faith Miller's experience includes directing the Loomis Chaffee School's 65-player orchestra in Windsor, Conn.; and founding and performing with the Island Chamber Musicians, a group of Hartford professional chamber musicians. Jose Lezcano, Keene A twice Grammy Award-nominated Cuban-American guitarist, composer, folklorist and professor of music at Keene State College Classical Guitar, Piano https://www.joselezcano.com/lessons.php Seth MacLean, Peterborough Electric guitar, electric bass, acoustic guitar, bass guitar https://www.facebook.com/sethmacleanguitar/ Nicholas Burns, Keene British Pianist Nicholas Burns is most often heard alongside violinist Louisa Stonehill as part of the Steinberg Duo and as part of the Samara Piano Quartet. He is founder and co-artistic director of Ashuelot Concerts, a non-profit live chamber music series. Piano https://nicholasburns.info/piano-lessons/ Tad Dreis, Keene Singer/songwriter, coffee shop and contra dance musician Guitar, harmonica, ukulele http://www.taddreis.com