by Samantha Melamed on November 15, 2017
Philadelphia Inquirer
Su Spina normally plays kettledrums. But when she went to pick up the instrument she’d be playing in the Symphony for a Broken Orchestra — a new composition for 400 amateur and professional musicians all playing broken instruments from the Philadelphia public schools — her options were limited.
“Would you prefer a violin without strings? Or an autoharp?” Andy Theirauf asked her.
Spina, 22, a recent college graduate who studied music at Franklin & Marshall, said if knocking on a broken violin for 40 minutes is what it takes to get these instruments fixed, she’s in.