Instrument Repair
Investing in a Sustainable Future for Haitian Music Schools: Expanding Instrument Repair Training
In Haiti, musical instruments are precious and often irreplaceable. Import restrictions, high shipping costs, and economic instability make replacing broken instruments extremely difficult. Without trained local technicians, minor issues - such as broken strings, damaged bridges, stuck keys, worn cork, or a fallen soundpost - can render an instrument unusable for months or permanently. Instrument repair training ensures that schools can maintain their existing inventory, maximizing the lifespan and functionality of every instrument in circulation.
BLUME Haiti's instrument repair workshops are part of the keys to long-term sustainability for music schools across the country. By training local technicians and luthiers, we ensure schools have access to the crucial skills to maintain their instruments, keeping music alive for countless children. As of early 2026, nearly 200 individuals have gained basic repair skills for string and band instruments as well as piano repair.
In partnership with Luthiers sans Frontières (LSF, UK branch), MusicFund (Belgium), the Rotary Club of Naperville, and others, we invest in string and band instrument repair training. Additionally, we were thrilled to host, in collaboration with Music Fund, our first Piano Repair Workshop in the summer of 2025.
The very first LSF mission to Haiti was in 2008 and saw a team of three luthiers, including the then vice-principal of the famed Newark School of Violin Making and two of that school’s advanced students, come to Haiti for a total of three weeks. This initial success sparked eight more missions, including four consecutive years of intensive training and support.
In 2016 part of the teaching staff included “Tchoupy, a Haitian luthier, trained not only through the LSF missions but who, thanks to MusicFund, also had the opportunity to spend several months in Cremona, the cradle of violin making. Tchoupy is now a fully professional luthier himself and has invested a great deal of time and energy in teaching others the craft of lutherie. Little by little, we are now seeing a group of committed professionals come into being across Haiti. Remarkably, Haiti is now home to four highly professional luthiers!
Garri working on a violin with Ronaldo at the 2018 Sainte Trinité summer camp.
We have now extended this same level of support to band instrument repair technicians. Through our longstanding partnership with Music Fund, the Rotary Club of Naperville, and other dedicated partners, we have made significant investments in building local expertise in band instrument repair.
Under the leadership of BLUME Haiti staff member and instructor Herold Jean Pierre, we have launched a structured series of band instrument repair seminars. A former student and teacher at the CEMUCHCA Institute of Music in Cap Haïtien, Herold deepened his expertise through several months of apprenticeship in France and Belgium, made possible by Music Fund.
After spending several years in Port-au-Prince, due to the ongoing security crisis in the capital, Herold has relocated his workshop to Cap Haïtien in the north. There, through the combined efforts of many partners and supporters, he has established a well equipped workshop. He has proven himself not only a skilled technician but also an organized, methodical, and highly effective teacher, training the next generation of Haitian repair specialists.
A natural teacher, Herold worked alongside his European mentors to design a comprehensive four-module training program covering the fundamentals of band instrument repair. This curriculum is being offered across Haiti’s departments, enabling music schools and community programs to cultivate local repair technicians within their own regions. As funding permits, we continue to provide essential tools and supplies so participants can put their training into immediate practice.
Our long term goal is to establish a national vocational school dedicated to instrument repair. The talent, commitment, and demand are already present in Haiti, and we have secured land near Cap Haïtien for this purpose. With the right financial investment, this vision can become a transformative national resource, strengthening Haiti’s entire music education ecosystem for generations to come.
Grafield Hylaris, known to all as Tchoupy, is a master teacher and accomplished luthier. At the CEMUCHCA Institute of Music in Cap Haïtien, he truly does it all. He serves as the principal string teacher, conducts both band and orchestra, leads his own jazz ensemble, and mentors aspiring luthiers from across northern Haiti.
We first met Tchoupy during our initial visit to Cap Haïtien in 2009 and immediately recognized his extraordinary drive and dedication. By the following year, his leadership and commitment were already unmistakable.
Beginning in 2010, he participated in LSF summer seminars and, by 2016, was invited to serve as a teacher at those same seminars. Through Music Fund, he was also given the opportunity to spend several weeks in Cremona, Italy, the historic center of violin making, where he refined his craft at the highest level.
Today, BLUME Haiti has engaged Tchoupy as our head luthier and senior string instructor. He is slated to serve as lead luthier at our proposed Vocational School of Instrument Repair, where his expertise, artistry, and teaching experience will shape the next generation of Haitian instrument makers and repair specialists.
An accomplished music educator in his own right, Herold Jean Pierre attended his first LSF workshop in 2012 and went on to participate in several more in the years that followed. He also took part in Music Fund band instrument repair workshops in 2014 and 2016.
Recognizing his talent and dedication, Music Fund sponsored advanced training for Herold in Belgium and France in both 2019 and 2023, where he received intensive instruction in string and band instrument repair. A third training residency is planned for 2026.
In
2021, BLUME Haiti hired Herold to oversee all aspects of our band instrument repair programs. In addition to repairing instruments for our partner schools, his most important role is teaching others the technical skills required to maintain the inventory of instruments across Haiti’s music schools.
To date, nearly 170 participants have taken part in repair workshops under his leadership.
In 2026, if security conditions permit, we hope he will return to Jacmel to offer the fourth and final module of the training series to approximately 20 students from across Haiti’s greater southern region.