Founder of Altadena Musicians describes replacing instruments and records lost in Eaton Canyon fire

The founder of Altadena Musicians described how a personal loss in the Eaton Canyon fire led to a nonprofit and an app that connects donors with fire survivors to replace instruments and records.

The speaker said he and his wife, both music composers, “lost our home and our recording studio in the Eaton Canyon fire,” and that experience inspired the creation of Altadena Musicians to replace instruments and albums free for survivors in Altadena and the Palisades.

Why it matters: musical instruments and record collections often carry sentimental value built over a lifetime, the founder said, and replacing them helps survivors preserve cultural and emotional continuity after disasters.

The founder said a Facebook post detailing the losses—he estimated they lost “maybe over 150 instruments” from his own collection—prompted friends, family and community members to bring instruments to early recovery events. That local response led the group to build a more permanent platform to match donations with need.

Altadena Musicians now operates a website (altadenamusicians.org) and an app called Instrumental Giving that the founder said facilitates direct connections between people who have extra instruments and those who lost theirs. “We built an app called Instrumental Giving that facilitates people connecting with each other to pass along instruments,” he said.

Impact reported: the founder said the organization has helped more than 1,600 families and replaced over 4,200 instruments and more than 10,000 records. He also described opening a free record store at the Altadena Music Center where about 60 people came to take records at no cost.

How it works: the founder emphasized that the program is designed to connect donors and recipients directly through the app and website rather than only acting as a drop-off center; volunteers and people with specific skills can contact the group through the website to help sustain operations.

Next steps: the founder urged people to register on the site, download Instrumental Giving, donate financially to keep the program and space running, and volunteer through the website or Instagram to help with ongoing recovery work.

The founder closed by inviting interested volunteers to message the organization through its website and to follow their Instagram for stories and updates.