Help Us Save The Sound Conservatory Building

Hey there! We are Sound Conservatory, a rapidly growing music academy, music retailer, and performance venue. Here are some important facts about who we are and what we do in our community:

1) We have in the last year grown to an incredible 260 music students amongst 12 teachers.

2) We are the largest local used piano dealer that offers pianos at unbeatable prices to make owning a piano easy to afford. We even offer an extremely affordable piano rental program for those who aren't sure if they want to buy a piano or do not have the financial means to buy one outright.

3) We offer a concert series that has been bringing in world-class, grammy-winning artists to perform here in Rock Island for our Quad City community.

4) We have offered scholarships to over 24 students from families with financial difficulties that need assistance in furthering their music education. We believe that money shouldn't play defining role in whether a child can or cannot study music.

5) We hold instrument and lesson giveaways regularly.

6) We have partnered with many of our local public schools with a program we call "Pop Music In The Classical Ensemble" where we educate students on the capabilities of the different instruments available and break down the stigma that playing a classical instrument means to can only play classical music.

7) We have also partnered with our neighbors at the YWCA to offer their kids monthly instrument "petting zoo". Our teachers perform and showcase their instruments for the kids and give them all a chance to try out the instruments themselves.

8) We are partnered with Larson Band Instrument Repair and Taets Piano Services and our own in-house guitar repair/maintenance service to bring you the highest level of instrument care. We also have our own in-house piano restoration shoppe!

9) We have our own piano moving division so we can offer professional piano moving/relocation for our piano customers and customers in the Quad Cities needing their pianos relocated.

10) Our biggest goal which is a result of the combination of all the things we do, is to help revitalize downtown Rock Island and make it a thriving community again. Through job creation, tax revenue generation through our retail sales, education programs and entertainment events but most importantly, bringing the community together, we believe we are a strong yet still fast-growing contributor to that goal.

Our next big project is expanding into the second floor, creating a 450-seat performance venue where we can offer some of the most amazing music performances that you'll find in the Quad Cities and beyond.

Now that you know who we are and what we bring to our community, we want to let you know how we need help to keep doing what we're doing.

We are in the process of purchasing our entire building located at 1600 2nd Avenue here in Rock Island, but we have been faced with a major issue regarding our roof. We have been informed that our roof needs a full rebuild including parapet walls that need serious attention before they become a structural issue. If we do not address these issue sooner than later, they may result in our building being shutdown... meaning, we close doors for good.

A little history of the building we are in:

The Illinois Theatre opened on December 26, 1901. It was designed by architect George H. Johnston and one of the promotors of the theatre was soon-to-be architect John Eberson. It operated successfully as a live theatre for several years, hosting traveling stage companies, vaudeville, musical performances and sporting events. By 1916, it had become a movie house.

The theatre was remodeled and updated in 1920 but was open only intermittently for the next several years. In 1929, the interior of the structure was largely gutted for conversion to a Montgomery Ward department store.

In its later years, the building was occupied by a furniture store, until 2005, when it was taken over by the Quad Cities YWCA. Today, the ground floor is occupied by Sound Conservatory!

With such a rich history being part of Rock Island, Sound Conservatory wants to help preserve it and continue to build on its history. But we can only do so with your help.

Sound Conservatory as a business is a strong growing business that is already profiting, but yet still too new to have the capital resources or financing options through traditional lending to cover the costs of the roof repairs.

We are now turning to the community for help so that we can continue to offer all the things we do and grow on that. Your support will be acknowledged and displayed in our performance venue reception area on our wall "Choir of Benefactors". With several levels of contribution, each one designed a music note value that will be placed on a music staff with your name along with it.

Please help us with our mission to preserve not only a piece of history but an institution that brings our community together through the power of music. Below are the levels of contribution options.

$100,000 - With this contribution level you will receive a "whole note chord" in the Choir of Benefactors as well as having our concert venue named after yourself or anyone you'd like to dedicate your donation to. You will also receive a lifetime of season tickets for our concert series for a table of four. This level of contribution will require scheduling an appointment to discuss details.

$25,000-99,999 - With this contribution level you will receive a "whole note" in the Choir of Benefactors. You will also receive a lifetime of season tickets for our concert series for a table for two.

$10,000-24,999 - With this contribution level you will receive a "half note" in the Choir of Benefactors. You will also receive a lifetime of season tickets for our concert series for one.

$5,000-9,999 - With this contribution level you will receive a "quarter note" in the Choir of Benefactors. You will also receive a lifetime of season tickets for our concert series for one.

$1,000-4,999 - With this contribution level you will receive an "eighth note" in the Choir of Benefactors. You will also receive a lifetime of season tickets for our concert series for one.

$500-999 - With this contribution level you will receive a "sixteenth note" in the Choir of Benefactors. You will also receive a season ticket for our concert series for one.

$50-499 - With this contribution level you will receive a "thirty-second note" in the Choir of Benefactors. You will also receive a ticket to any performance in our concert series for one.

All donors will be invited to a gala performance featuring live music to celebrate our combined effort and accomplishment. Thank you for taking the time to read and we hope you can help us grow Rock Island together!

DISCLAIMER: If our efforts are not met and/or we do not move forward with the project, all moneys donated will be refunded to the donors. Money will not be withdrawn/used until we are 100% with making this happen.