What music does to kids

Re “The musical gift L.A. offers public school kids,” Opinion, Jan. 12

Bravo to Kris Bowers for his op-ed article and short documentary “The Last Repair Shop,” celebrating the Los Angeles Unified School District’s program supplying free musical instruments to students.

I too played in my school bands, and it was an important part of my school experience. I learned discipline, because playing requires practice. I gained experience working in a group and made friends in band.

Most importantly, I found that even at age 10, my friends and I could make art. Maybe not great art, but as an elementary school music teacher once told me: “It’s not what the kids do to the music, it’s what the music does to the kids.”

So, bravo to L.A. Unified for giving every student that opportunity.

Peter Quimby

Santa Barbara

In 1965, my mom, Marilyn Mindell, started a music bank benefiting San Mateo public schools in the Bay Area. My mom ran a publicity campaign so parents would donate unused instruments they could find in their attics.

Our local paper ran an article showing the parents depositing the instruments at one window of a local bank, and children, at another window, withdrawing the instruments to take home. The cost, as I remember, was $10 per year.

Every summer, the instruments would be turned back in for free repairs, and our hall closet would be over-flowing with violins, violas, cellos, flutes, trumpets and more.

In L.A., the local elementary school had a robust music program. I had heard that the instrument program there was no longer in existence, so it really was a pleasure to read Bowers’ article assuring me that it isn’t only Youth Orchestra Los Angeles and the Silver Lake Conservatory teaching public school kids the musical arts in L.A.

Susan Polifronio

Los Angeles