An auction of Yamaha guitars used in the live “Mad T Party” show at Disney California Adventure raised $9,000. The funds were used to purchase 40 instruments, including trumpets, clarinets and flutes, to benefit the music-education program in Anaheim CA’s Anaheim Elementary School District (AESD).
When the popular Disney show ended, the instruments were returned to Yamaha, which is the exclusive musical instrument sponsor of the Disneyland resort. Of the guitars returned, three were purchased by musicians in the band and Yamaha kept one for display; that left four Yamaha Pacifica models and one bass model BB1024x for the auction. All were decorated with a full-color graphic of the Dormouse character from the Tim Burton-directed, live-action “Alice in Wonderland” movie.
“We thought auctioning the guitars would be a good way to help get musical instruments back into some of the schools, and to get more visibility of the needs of school music programs,” David Jewell, Marketing Communications Manager, Yamaha Corp. of America, stated. “With Disneyland and Anaheim in our backyard, it made sense to donate the $9,000 to their school district’s music-education program.”
According to Jewell, none of the 24 Anaheim elementary schools had music programs three years ago. Today, half of them have full-time music teachers and full programs. The money raised from the auction will help expand music education to all 24 schools. “Studies repeatedly show that, when children are exposed to music in school, all their subjects will improve, leading to a better academic experience,” he added. “Yamaha has always been a leader in music education, and it is personally gratifying to help further that mission in the Anaheim schools.”