SAN ANTONIO, TX – Keeping local students’ instruments sounding just like they should is an everyday job for workers at High School Music Service, Inc.
The business, which has two locations in San Antonio, has a full-time staff dedicated to fixing and fine-tuning them.
Every now and then, though, Terry Ghiselli said he finds some unusual sights on the job at the Loop 1604 and Culebra Road location--things that, even after decades on the job, still surprise him.
“I find some odd things inside tubas,” he said. “Pencils and Match Box cars, hair barrettes. That sort of thing. And then some less nice things, like, dead animals. "
Ghiselli specializes in repairing and re-tuning brass instruments as well as some of those in the wind instrument family.
He learned to play many of them as a child. Later, he decided to combine his musical knowledge with his adeptness at working with his hands in a labor of love.
"If I have to work really long hours -- even at the end of a 16 hour day or something I can still honestly say I enjoy what I do," he said.
While working on instruments for local middle and high school students makes up a lot of the business, Ghiselli said he occasionally puts his skills to work for others, including members of the San Antonio and Houston symphonies.
“I’ve worked on instruments from out of the country even,” he said. “The most expensive instrument I've probably ever worked on was a Brannen flute that was solid rose gold and about $50,000. "
Ghiselli is one of about a half dozen technicians who work at the Loop 1604 location. High School Music Service also has a shop on N. W. Military Highway in Castle Hills.
The business offers services beyond instrument repair, including instrument sales, supplies and music lessons.