Help Yoshi Weinberg Reach Their Full Potential

Hello friends, family, community members, and acquaintances!

My name is Yoshi Weinberg (they/them) and I’m a queer non-binary flutist, harpist, and composer based in Brooklyn, NY. I’ve been a professional freelance musician for around 12 years. I have been very lucky to perform with some of the best musicians in NYC in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and one of my favorites the Minskoff Theater on Broadway in Times Square (home of the Lion King). For the last 12 years I have been playing on an intermediate flute, a beautiful silver Muramatsu GX, that has gone through so much with me. In 2019, I purchased my first upgrade to my flute: a gold Lafin headjoint that I worked two part-time jobs to pay for! My Muramatsu GX has been a fantastic companion to me and helped me achieve so much. Unfortunately, it is now time to say goodbye to my silver flute and find an upgrade that will last me through the rest of my career.

With the recommendations from my mentor Tara O’Connor, and my flute repair tech David Samperi (who both have said for years that I’ve needed a better instrument to bring me to that next level), I have found my dream flute that will last the remainder of my career: a beautiful handmade 10k gold heavy-wall Muramatsu flute.

This is now where I ask for money! I of course understand how complicated asking one’s community for money is, and I also understand the urgency of other humanitarian needs in the world right now. I am asking from the deepest place of humbleness for your support. The cost of this new flute is $25,000 (with all the bells and whistles and of course taxes), a price that comes with the impeccable quality of the handmade instrument and materials it is made from. In order to secure the flute, I must come up with a down payment as soon as the second week of July. I can then finance the remainder for 5 months interest free from the seller. As a full-time freelance musician in NYC as well as a Doctoral candidate in my 4th year at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center, I live paycheck to paycheck. Most of my income either gets stored in savings for taxes (because freelance taxes are YIKES) or gets sent to my landlord for rent and utilities. I am also struggling with debt from student loans and credit card bills that have lingered over my head for years.

My beautiful family has supported me with their love and kindness my entire life, but they cannot afford to assist me financially at this time. My lovely siblings have decided to help me build this GoFundMe in order to make this dream of owning a professional flute possible. Without their love and support I wouldn’t be the person and musician I am today. Other funding sources are expensive. Private loans are at an all time interest rate high of around 26-28%, which would double the cost of the flute over time. I currently don’t have access to student loans as I have maxed out the amount of aid that I can take out from the Government. Other family members who have supported me in the past are also unable to help at this time due to their own personal financial struggles. So, my loving community of friends, family, and strangers. I humbly ask you for your support in getting me to my final flutey evolution. If you are able, please consider donating in any amount to my campaign. If you don’t have the funds, that’s totally ok, a share or a like will do wonders to help the algorithm get this page some attention.

I want to thank you from the bottom of my gay little heart for reading all of this. I will post periodic updates about the flute, and even possibly share some videos of my playing and pictures as well! And if you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to reach out.

With loving kindness,

Yoshi Weinberg

(they/them)

www.yoshiweinberg.com