repairs and maintenance
Good quality repair work is tied to the success or failure of the musician, whether you're a beginner or a professional. We have professional instrument repair technicians, repairing brass, woodwind, and all types of stringed instruments.
ultrasonic cleaning
Brass instruments get dirty. The constant passage of warm, wet air through an instrument means that regular cleaning is a must. Brass players frequently put off getting maintenance done on their instruments until the instrument stops working all together: tuning slides won't move, valves stick, and the lead pipes and tuning slides start to rust through due to corrosion ("red rot.") As you can imagine, except for dents and broken solder joints, most of the problems with brass instruments are cleaning issues, and the useful life of a brass instrument increases with regular maintenance.
Questions? Please use the contact form to email us.
woodwind & brass
Scott Mims; woodwind and brasswind specialist. A St. Paul native and Central High School graduate, played sax in the University of Minnesota marching band before switching to Southeast Technical College (Red Wing). At Red Wing Scott studied woodwind & brass repair with Greg Beckwith and Ken Cance before joining the Cadenza repair shop in May 2004. After working with and studying under Jean Carey for many years Scott has taken over the responsibilities of Shop Manager. He plans to keep up the high standards that have always made Cadenza a trusted repair shop.
Peregrine Hartmark; woodwind specialist. Have been part of the Cadenza family since 2011 when they started taking clarinet lessons with Karen Hansen. In 2014 they received a Bachelors of Arts in classical languages and music performance from Luther College, where they studied clarinet with Dr. Michael Chesher. After completing a Masters of Music (in clarinet performance with Professor Kevin Schempf) in 2020 at Bowling Green State University Peregrine wanted to go home. They attended Southeast Technical College in Red Wing for instrument repair. Peregrine joined Cadenza’s repair shop in the summer of 2021 and is dedicated to doing excellent work on instruments of all levels from beginner to professional.
Jean Carey, woodwind specialist, apprenticed with Niles Gadbois at his shop in South Minneapolis in 1975. In 1977 Jean agreed to come to Cadenza and start our repair shop. Since then she has repaired instruments for beginners, amateurs, members of the Minnesota Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and both local and touring professionals. She's straightened flutes that were sat on, and one that was used to bean a little brother. She's pulled chemistry notes and love letters out of tubas and saved many a recital or concert with last minute repairs. A flute player herself, Jean looks for the same precision in a bari sax as she does in a piccolo. Jean has developed a well deserved reputation as a bassoon expert, and she gets bassoons in from all over the state.
Questions? Please use the contact form to email us.
orchestral strings
Andy Denny graduated with honors in stringed instrument repair from Southeast Technical College (Red Wing) where he studied violin with Lisbeth Nelson-Butler. He has built banjos at Nechville Musical Products in Bloomington, Minnesota and does violin repair and restoration for David Folland in Northfield, Minnesota. Andy builds banjos in his free time.
Questions? Please use the contact form to email us.