“The work we do is important and should be passed down from generation to generation, but the people who do what we do are a dying breed. » said Bagmanyan, who has held this position for 21 years. “Children are our future, and yet we are cutting arts and music programs across the country. »
However, last week, fortunes seemed to be reversing for the repair shop, as Bagmanyan’s quiet work suddenly attracted attention.
Since “The Last Repair Shop,” a film starring Bagmanyan and three other instrument technicians, won the Oscar for best documentary short at the Academy Awards on March 10, people across the country have donated to a fund to stimulate instrument repairs and schooling. music programs in Los Angeles.
“The attention has been overwhelming and we are honored,” Bagmanyan said.
Most people didn’t realize the Los Angeles instrument repair shop existed until the documentary came out, he said.
The school district’s repair shop is believed to be the last large in-house program of its kind in the country. Since 1959, it has provided free instruments and repairs throughout the district, which today has 540,000 students in more than 1,000 schools. The Los Angeles school system is the second largest in the country.
“For children living in poverty, public schools are the entities that actually provide [musical] resources and enrichment activities that wealthier families can already afford to provide,” said school district Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.
In most schools, including those in the nation’s largest district, New York City Public Schools, students rely on teachers, volunteers or private repair shops to fix broken musical instruments.
“Where does a child find a saxophone, a violin, a clarinet? » said Carvalho. “We are able to offer that. And we never allow these instruments to go silent because they are broken.
Donations from the fundraiser will be used to hire more instrument repair technicians and start a student apprenticeship program, purchase new equipment for the store and expand music classes, he said.
So far, people have already donated more than $24,000 to the Last Repair Shop Fund, a campaign launched last month by the filmmakers and the Los Angeles Unified School District. It’s just part of the fundraising effort, which has a campaign goal of $15 million and was recently featured in the LA School Report.
In Los Angeles, the district wants every child to play on an instrument that works well, Carvalho said.
“Last year, I purchased 40,000 additional instruments to greatly increase our music programs, and now, with the success of the film, we hope to build on that foundation,” he said.
“It’s an investment of love and an investment of community,” he said, noting that students who take music lessons perform better on math, English and science tests.
The documentary “The Last Repair Shop” focuses on Bagmanyan and three other dedicated instrument repair specialists, weaving their personal stories with comments from students who found solace and joy in music.
Brass specialist Paty Moreno spoke about her struggles as a single mother, while wood repairman Duane Michaels recalled opening for Elvis in 1975 with his bluegrass band. Ropes technician Dana Atkinson spoke about coming to terms with his sexuality as a young man.
Bagmanyan, 60, an Armenian refugee from Azerbaijan, supervises the operation and takes care of the repair and tuning of the piano. He described abandoning his beloved guitar and fleeing his native country in the late 1980s to escape ethnic persecution linked to a conflict that continues today.
“I learned that music is the only language that does not need a translator,” Bagmanyan said. “At the end of the day, when you know that an instrument is going to go to a student who needs it, you have to smile. It’s a very good feeling.
He said he and his team repair between 3,500 and 7,000 instruments each year, from piccolos to double basses.
“It’s not that we make the instrument like new – we do it so it sounds right,” Bagmanyan said.
“If an instrument doesn’t have the right pitch or feel, a child can end up hating that instrument and the music,” he added. “They deserve to play a working instrument.”
The public response to the film and the fundraiser has been touching, said Ben Proudfoot, who co-directed the short documentary with composer Kris Bowers and is the founder and CEO of Breakwater Studios. Bowers attended Los Angeles public schools, where he played pianos tuned by Bagmanyan.
He and Proudfoot accepted their Oscars with 12-year-old Porché Brinker, a Los Angeles public schools student who is learning to play the violin and is featured in their documentary.
In his acceptance speech, Bowers spoke about public school heroes who often remain “unsung, unsung and invisible.”
“Tonight we sing to you, we thank you, we see you,” he said, pointing to the upper balcony where Bagmanyan and the other instrument repair technicians sat.
Proudfoot said there was an increase in donations after the Oscars, including from people who benefited from Los Angeles music. program as children.
“We started with $3,000 and it immediately grew,” he said. “We receive many donations of $10 to $100 from people who are inspired by what they do in the store and want to contribute to a dying art form.”
Many donors seem interested in the issue of reparations in the documentary, Proudfoot said.
“We have all experienced broken relationships and broken promises – life is full of these things,” he said. “Sometimes you have to leave, but sometimes things can be fixed.” »
“The people at ‘The Last Repair Shop’ come to work every day with the desire to repair,” he added. “They represent the best of America working every day to sew the fabric of this country.”
Bagmanyan said his cup was full, knowing that children could carry a love of music with them for a lifetime.
Getting dropped off at the Oscars this year on a school bus with the rest of the crew was another highlight.
“When they announced the winner and it all came true, I felt a nice, warm feeling of relaxation,” he said. “I had planned to retire this year. But now I will rebuild the store to the level it once was and continue to operate for a while.
