2nd Wind Project

Old instruments. New musicians.

Every year, musical instruments end up forgotten in cupboards, garages and spare rooms. Some haven't been played for decades. Others need repairs that simply don't make financial sense for their owners.

At the same time, there are young musicians who would love to have an instrument of their own, but don't have access to one.

The 2nd Wind Project brings the two together.

Created by Solar Music in Annandale, Sydney, the 2nd Wind Project accepts donated musical instruments, restores them where possible, and passes them on free of charge to young musicians who would benefit from owning their own instrument.

Give your old instrument a second wind

If you have an old clarinet, flute, saxophone, trumpet, trombone or other band instrument sitting unused at home, we'd love to hear from you.

It doesn't need to be in playing condition.

As musical instrument repairers, we're able to look beyond worn pads, seized mechanisms, missing corks and years of neglect and determine whether an instrument can be made useful again.

When a donated instrument is suitable for the project, Solar Music donates the workshop time to repair, service and set it up so that it can begin its second life as a playable musical instrument.

We then work with music teachers, conductors, schools and other members of Sydney's music community to find a young musician who would genuinely benefit from having an instrument of their own.

The instrument is not resold. It is paid forward.

Why donate a musical instrument?

An older instrument can have very little resale value when it needs significant repairs. Unfortunately, that means perfectly repairable instruments can spend years gathering dust or eventually end up in landfill.

We think there's a better option.

A donated instrument can:

• Give a young musician an instrument of their own
• Keep an existing musical instrument in use and out of landfill
• Reduce waste by repairing and reusing rather than replacing
• Help support music education in our local community
• Give a well-loved instrument another chance to be played

For us, that's a pretty good second wind.

What instruments can we accept?

We're particularly interested in woodwind and brass instruments, including:

Clarinet • Flute • Piccolo • Saxophone • Trumpet • Trombone • Euphonium • Baritone • French horn and other concert band instruments.

Instruments don't need to be working when they're donated. In fact, bringing neglected instruments back into playing condition is a big part of the project.

However, not every instrument can be successfully or economically restored. Each donated instrument is assessed individually by our repair workshop.

Where an instrument isn't suitable for restoration, we'll discuss the options with you. With your permission, it may still be able to contribute to the project as a source of useful parts to help another donated instrument play again.

Sometimes one old instrument can give another its second wind.

Where do the instruments go?

We don't want to make decisions about who is most deserving based on an application form or someone's financial circumstances.

Instead, we work with school music teachers, band directors, conductors and other music educators who know their students.

They can identify a young player for whom having an instrument of their own could make a real difference.

There is no cost to the recipient.

Our aim is simple: put a good, playable instrument into the hands of someone who will play it.

Are you a music teacher or conductor?

We'd love to hear from music educators throughout Sydney.

If you know a young musician who would particularly benefit from having an instrument of their own, please get in touch.

We can't promise that we'll always have the instrument you need available — the project depends entirely on what people donate — but we'd like to build a network of teachers and conductors who can help us find the right home when an instrument becomes ready.

Donate an instrument in Sydney

If you have an unused or unwanted musical instrument and would like to donate it to The 2nd Wind Project, contact Solar Music or bring it into our Annandale instrument repair workshop.

It doesn't matter if it hasn't played a note in twenty years.

Don't throw it away. Give it a second wind.

Solar Music

The 2nd Wind Project — Old instruments. New musicians.

Musical instrument repairs and servicing
Annandale, Sydney NSW

Have an instrument to donate? Get in touch with us and tell us what you've got.