Project 53: a music-inspired nonprofit

Joseph Reichenbacher’s closets are full of guitars. Ten guitars, to be exact, along with two… Joseph Reichenbacher’s closets are full of guitars. Ten guitars, to be exact, along with two basses, a few violins, a drum kit, an accordion and an organ.

It’s a pretty big closet.

“I like to have variety. Glockenspiels, as well as accordions,” Reichenbacher, founder of Project 53, said.

Project 53 serves as a resource center for all things musical. The nonprofit organization’s mission is to provide access to instruments and musical expertise to anyone, regardless of financial circumstance.

“My long-term goal is to get as many instruments in houses as televisions,” Reichenbacher said.

While Reichenbacher prepares to open Project 53’s new headquarters on Melwood Avenue in Polish Hill this summer, he continues to scour Craigslist for used equipment and to collect donations and instruments for consignment.

“We accept anything music-related, in any condition,” Reichenbacher said. “If we don’t know what to do with it, we’ll figure it out later.”

The gear will stock the first of three rooms at Project 53, which is set up as a music store with a twist.

While the store will stock everything one might find in a standard music store plus more, the strings, mandolins, banjo-lins, kazoos and other equipment will be available on a sliding pay scale.

“You can get anything you want at any price, including free, but you get what you pay for,” Reichenbacher said.

For example, if a fledgling violinist can’t afford a new bow, a volunteer might give him a broken bow fixed with tape, enough to allow him to continue practicing.

The second room, in keeping with the goal of exposing folks to new musical experiences, is an alternative school of music with long-term plans to connect with Pitt and Carnegie Mellon.

With a variety of recordings from which to listen, Reichenbacher hopes the collection will help patrons “find what moves you, because it’s powerful stuff if you’re playing the music that moves you.”

In Project 53’s third room, patrons can hone their musical passion through practice and lessons.

A variety of music teachers, most of them multi-instrumentalists, are available to provide private lessons. In return for using the space for their lessons, the teachers will give free lessons to those who couldn’t otherwise afford them.

Reichenbacher said these free lessons will be geared toward helping people “learn how to learn” on their own. For instance, a teacher might answer questions and help beginners get started. They will also help more advanced musicians get past a feeling of being “stuck” to go on to the next level.

To further foster relationships between volunteers and students, Project 53 will host monthly workshops that appeal to its diverse demographic, which so far has included anyone from toddlers and college students to professional musicians and retirees.

“The 2-year-olds get a maraca, everyone’s having a good time with music,” Reichenbacher said during a previous Project 53 workshop.

At the heart of these efforts is the philosophy that music and collaboration creates community.