Guitar Center to relaunch Foundation

WESTLAKE VILLAGE — The world’s largest instrument retailer, Guitar Center, announced last week the re-launch of its nonprofit organization, the Guitar Center Music Foundation, whose mission is to offer as many individuals as possible the experience of learning to play a musical instrument, an activity the foundation deems intrinsically valuable for the human race.

Since its founding in 2005, the foundation’s charitable efforts have put instruments in the hands of more than 200,000 novice, amateur and hopeful musicians nationwide.

The foundation has a rich history of supporting musicians through music education, music therapy and other music-centric nonprofit programs, and as a retailer. 2018 marks the 54th year for Guitar Center, and company leadership has decided to “expand and guide the organization into re-establishing the Guitar Center Music Foundation in order to provide a large spectrum of gear, as well as lessons and services, to various nonprofit organizations that focus on music education,” according to company officials.

“The Guitar Center Music Foundation is an exciting opportunity for us to use our resources to reach musicians of all ages and skill levels who may not have access to musical instruments,” Guitar Center CEO Ron Japinga said. “Guitar Center has always advocated for musicians. We firmly believe that it all starts with fostering strong music education programs, and we’re proud to make that promise to current and future generations of musicians through the Guitar Center Music Foundation. We look forward to identifying new and powerful ways to bring more music into the world and driving positive change within our country’s music education system by giving more people the tools and access they need to find their sound.”

For the newly reformed foundation’s first initiative to help expand the reach of music education, it will provide instruments to various women’s music education programs in support of International Women’s Day on Thursday, which will include a grant of nearly $10,000 worth of instruments and equipment to educational programs specifically designed to provide women and girls the opportunity to learn and make music.

“The re-launch of the Guitar Center Music Foundation marks a new beginning for us and is met with a renewed energy and excitement,” Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer for Guitar Center Jeannine D’Addario said, “We’ve always been about serving all musicians, but we know that in order to truly serve them, we need to look beyond our walls. As a member of the board and the Guitar Center family, as well a personal advocate for music education, I look forward to helping grow the foundation’s capabilities and reach to serve musicians of all kinds and musician hopefuls in underserved communities and underfunded schools.”

To learn more, visit GuitarCenterFoundation.org.

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