Rare violin donated to Music4Life

Norma Sleeper violin
Donated to Music4Life

A rare violin appraised at $11,500 has been given to Music4Life™, the Seattle-based non-profit that provides musical instruments to participating schools for students in need. The donor is a Bainbridge Island pilot. The instrument has been placed with Edmonds Public Schools.

United Airlines pilot Bill Sleeper, not an instrumentalist himself, inherited the John Boder copy of an Italian-made 1908 Stephano Scarampella 4/4 (full size) violin from the estate of his late mother, Norma Sleeper.

“Mom played this violin in the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, where she was ‘first chair,’ and in various other ensembles for many years. She just treasured that violin.”

Bill took the instrument to internationally-known Queen Anne luthier (string instrument restorer) Rafael Carrabba to get it fixed. 

“When it was done, Bill asked me who he could donate it to,” Carrabba says. “I explained what Music4Life does. He immediately said “That’s it! That’s where she would want it to go.’”

Music4Life acquires “lovingly used” musical instruments from adults who no longer need them, gets them repaired and then provides them to participating public school districts for use by students in need. Music4Life operates programs supporting Seattle, Edmonds, Highline, Mukilteo and Shoreline Public Schools. The program acquires used instruments from adults who understand that their highest and best use is to put them back into play. With adequate resources, Music4Life also buys new musical instruments for school districts.

“Most of the instruments that Music4Life gets are not nearly this expensive,” says David Endicott, President/CEO. “We are grateful for all of them because most can be repaired and start some student on the road to participation in instrumental music that lasts a lifetime.

The “Norma Sleeper Violin” is now in use by a talented upperclassman in Edmonds Public Schools. Music4Life recognizes that, given the state of the national economy, there still are a lot of students in need who would not be able to participate unless provided a playable musical instrument.

Music4Life™ is supported in part by grants from organizations such as First Choice Health; 4Culture (the former Seattle-King County Arts Commission); the Knossos Foundation; various local Rotary and Kiwanis clubs; Cascade Symphony Orchestra, the Edmonds Center for the Arts, and Kennelly Keys Music stores.