VIDEO: Hamilton Group Bring Music to Deaf Students

The Musary has lent out hundreds of musicial instruments to local students, but on Wednesday there were some special recipients – deaf and other handicapped children.

The class of four 10 and 11-year-olds at Beverly School for the Deaf and Children’s Center for Communication got to play one of the Musary’s donated trumpets in their music class.

The music class, and dedicated music teacher, are also new at the school, which has recently undergone an expansion that has more than doubled its Beverly campus.

The Musary is a Hamilton-based non-profit organization that is a lending library of musical instruments, with "no strings attached."  It was started in memory of John Ryan Pike, a graduate who was class president and later went on to be a founding member of the rock band Ra Ra Riot.

Tom Jones, co-founder of The Musary, was invited in to the school to watch the instruments in action on Wednesday. Music Teacher Erin Bollacker sat with students in Rachael Barstow’s class - Carson Reilly, Francesca Sung, Connor Sutherland and Austin Allen.

Music is part of the regular weekly schedule for students, according to Mark Carlson, president and executive director of the Children’s Center for Communication and Beverly School for the Deaf.

Jones said the lending library includes hundreds of instruments, ranging from flutes and clarinets to accordions and a piano.

The instruments have been made available to local students, particularly as an alternative to the and through the Friends of the Arts group.

The Musary continues to grow, looking for both continued instrument donations and space of its own. Jones said if it ends up getting its own home, it could be opened up to a wide range of uses, including a practice space for local bands.