Maya and Masashi Tsuchiya own M’s Music & Repair in Longmont. Over the past decade, they have supported countless students in the St. Vrain Valley School District’s music programs.
“We repair instruments for most of the schools around here, and we do rental as well,” Masashi said.
The district has more than 200 music programs, from high school marching bands to middle school orchestras. Many of those students have passed through the doors of M’s Music & Repair.
Maya Tsuchiya is the repair technician at the shop, specializing in woodwind and brass instruments, though she plays many others.
“When I was little, three or four years, I started with playing a little organ and moved to classical piano,” she said.
“When I was younger, I played violin, cello, and some other musical instruments and when I got older I picked up saxophones, and now I'm playing soprano saxophone for having fun.”
Maya trained in Washington state, where repair technicians are expected to play every instrument they fix.
“So I can play maybe some major scales for each instrument such as trumpets, trombones, baritone and clarinet, flute, saxophones, maybe French horn,” she said.
The shop sees a steady flow of customers throughout the year, but Mondays are the busiest.
“Typically, after we open at 11, people start coming in, ‘oh, I broke this… (my) saxophone is not working. (There’s a) stuck mouthpiece on the trumpet,’ something like that,” Masashi said.
Marching band season in the fall brings its own set of problems.
“We get a lot of flipped bell trumpets and some bent keys on woodwinds as well,” said Maya.
“Sometimes we get the flute (that) they dropped through the bleachers because they're just straight and thin.”
The shop also gets busy just before school concerts.
“There was a parent who wanted to make their daughter's clarinet perfect for the concert,” Maya said. “So the night before the dad took out his screwdriver and tightened all the screws… and what happened is she cannot play some notes because the keys won't move.”
She was able to repair the instrument before the concert. But Masashi has some advice for parents.
“Never let the Dads touch the instrument. I guess that's the best way. Just bring it over,” he said.
The shop sits about a block from Longmont High School. The couple sometimes walk over to see instruments they have rented or repaired in action, especially during the annual band night, when marching bands from across the district perform on the football field.
“Watching them is very enjoyable because I could recognize many kids’ faces. ‘Oh, I know him, I know her,’” Maya said. “It's fun to look for which instrument I worked on.”
“Sometimes, maybe 50% of the time I get scared because I see crazy choreographies going on on the fields. It nearly gives me a heart attack, but I enjoy it.”
After years of repairing instruments, she has some simple advice for students.
“Please keep your mouth clean before and while playing an instrument if you're playing the wind instrument, and for the string instrument, please keep your hands clean,” she said. “For the wind instrument, whatever you eat or drink ends up in the instrument and that will make the mechanism very sticky or sluggish or sometimes it just ruins the instrument because there’s acid in the saliva.”
She also recommends putting instruments back in their cases after practicing.
“Don't leave it on the bed or chair or table, especially if you have younger siblings or pets in the house,” she said. “And also every once in a while I recommend checking in the instrument case … if there are any pet hairs … they can get into the mechanism and make the valves stuck or sluggish.”
Still, Misashi knows kids will be kids.
“We understand that we are renting instruments to the kids, you know? So ‘don't do this, don't do that, don't do this.’ They're not gonna listen,” he said. “If you could pick one advice, stick to it, great, we’re happy.”
Copyright 2026 Rocky Mountain Community Radio. This story was shared via Rocky Mountain Community Radio, a network of public media stations in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico, including Aspen Public Radio.
