Published: October 23, 2009 11:49 pm      

Making music: Retired teacher instrumental in keeping area bands marching

Many people can create music, but John Sacerino can actually make music.

Give the 68-year-old Croyle Township man a bag of brass or woodwind parts and he can assemble an instrument faster than you can say John Philip Sousa.

As a member of National Association of Professional Band Instrument Repair Technicians, Sacerino has been putting his skills to good use since he retired after 30 years as band and music director in the Richland School District.

Under Sacerino’s leadership as department chairman, the district’s choral and band programs flourished.

“My main objective was to rebuild the department and give students a good foundation in music and art,” he said.

Sacerino said it took teamwork to build and sustain a top-notch program.

“I had huge support from the superintendent at the time, Bob Gaunter, who viewed the arts as equally as important as athletics,” he said. “Mike Bodolosky agreed to come to Richland, and we worked in tandem for many years.”

Bodolosky, currently the executive director of the Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center, said elementary and middle school students gravitated to Sacerino.

“They loved him because he was so creative in his curriculum design for middle school students,” Bodolosky said. “As department chairman, John was my liaison to the adminstration, and we were able to accomplish a lot for the students.”

Sacerino immersed himself in the curriculum. He created a mini-governor’s school of the arts at Richland and it wasn't unusual for him to work until 11 or 11:30 each night.

“Just like an athletic coach, I dedicated myself to the best job for the kids,” he said.

He started playing professionally at age 10 and joined the musicians union at 12.

Sacerino is a graduate of Bishop McCort High School, Johnstown; earned a bachelor’s degree from Concord State Teachers College, Athens, W.Va., and a master’s from Penn State; and has taken courses in instrument repair.

In 2000, Sacerino started Allegro Band Instrument Repair at his home.

Prior to that, he dabbled in instrument repair when some of his students had difficulty getting needed repairs in a timely fashion.

Much of the district’s instrument repairs were done by Frank Gallucci in Belmont.

“I had a student who had trouble getting his trumpet back, so I called Frank to see if I could expedite things,” Sacerino said. “He told he was swamped with work and that I should come to his shop and he would teach me how to fix it.”

From that simple fix, Sacerino turned his repair skills into a cottage industry in the basement of his home.

The expansive shop has cabinets and shelves overflowing with parts, a repair area with tools similar to the ones found in an automotive body shop, and a well-stocked retail section geared toward hard-to-find parts for brass, woodwind and percussion instruments.

When Gallucci died, his wife offered Sacerino the business, including all stock, parts and tools.

Sacerino has refurbished countless instruments that many customers thought were beyond repair.

He retrieved a tri-color Getsen trumpet dating back to the late 1970s from a weathered case.

“The person who brought this in thought it was junk,” Sacerino said. “The valves were stuck, slides were stuck and (it) had a dull finish before I gave it a complete overhaul.”

The trumpet sold new for about $300, and Sacerino said the sparkling, high-quality instrument now is worth between $500 and $600.

He now has a trumpet that a customer in his late 30s brought in to find out if it could be repaired.

The man had backed over the trumpet with his car about 20 years ago.

“It was in a case and the bell is badly bent,” Sacerino said. ”It has sentimental value to the customer, and we can fix it.”

He estimates that nine out of 10 instruments stored away in closests or attics are salvageable.

“I can honestly say that I have not encountered an instrument that we couldn’t fix,” he said.

Sacerino’s younger brother, Dominick, 52, now works the shop. After working in the accounting office at IUP during the day, the younger Sacerino usually works four nights a week and Saturdays to keep up with repairs.

“Dominick is the best woodwind repairman in the area,” Sacerino said.

Sacerino grabbed an alto saxophone from a wall display and proudly pointed to the craftsmanship.

“Dominick built this from a box of parts,” he said. “This is a $1,500 instrument that we're selling for $900.”

Sacerino also has a thriving rental business with more than 500 instruments distributed to students in Cambria, Somerset, Bedford and Blair counties.

Sacerino has a good rapport with area school band directors, who depend on him to make quick fixes or supply parts at a moment’s notice when they find themselves in a pinch.

Frank McCleester, Ferndale Area High School band director, said Sacerino always has time to help with a problem.

“I just called him to ask if he could quickly fix a stuck valve on one of our trumpets and he was more than accommodating,” McCleester said. “I don’t live too far from him and dropped by his shop and waited 15 minutes until he fixed it.”

The reason Sacerino left teaching after more than 32 years is that he got burned out.

“Ironically, I miss the kids, and this is just another way for me to continue educating them,” Sacerino said.