help justine’s flute get fixed

hi! i hope you are doing well, and thank you so much for coming to my gofundme page. my name is justine lee hooper and i’m a freelance musician who has been playing the flute for over 20 years. playing the flute is the love of my life, and it has gotten me through so many difficult (and so many joyful!) things.

unfortunately, my flute has been in need of a major repair for nearly 9 years, and i am seeking support as it reaches a critical breaking point. i bought it in used “as-is” condition in 2015 with a private high-interest loan that took me a number of years to pay off, while i was struggling to work in majority toxic and hostile environments in the administrative arts. at the time i purchased the flute from a specialty flute store, they suggested it go through a service called an overhaul, where the technician completely removes every key, pad, cork, spring, etc on the instrument, and reassembles it with new materials so it functions as new as possible. overhauls take 20-30 hours to complete and cost $2,500 at the shop i trust in new york, and i couldn’t afford it at the time and i still can’t. the professional level woodwind instrument market, particularly flutes, bassoons, and oboes, is sadly priced exorbitantly high and therefore often inaccessible to own and maintain these instruments; for example, while pursuing my undergraduate degree in music, i never had a comparable instrument to my peers who benefited from generational wealth and white privilege, and often felt embarrassed and lesser than by my instrument and its limitations.

i have been freelancing and teaching music since 2020, and now i am rehearsing and performing several times a week with new york’s queer and trans salsa band, las mariquitas, as well as performing and recording my own solo improvisations. sadly, there has been three shows in the past few months where my flute stopped working on stage. this is a risk i really can’t afford to keep taking as my career grows and as my instrument deteriorates.

i’m financially at a place where i’m able to afford my basic needs, but i haven’t been able to save for anything, let alone the cost of an overhaul. i’m humbly asking community to help me with these dire repairs for my flute so i can continue doing what i love (and continue to get paid for it too). any and every amount given is so deeply valued.

gofundme takes a percentage out of each donation, so the $2600 goal is to help cover that as well. any extra funds raised, if any, will go towards updating and maintaining my electronic effects machines/pedals, which are also often cost inaccessible (i have wanted to invest in a used roland sampler and a suzuki omnichord for some time, as well as buy a friend’s microkorg synthesizer that i’ve graciously been allowed to borrow). you are also welcome to support directly via:

v.enmo: @justinehooper

z.elle: ask me

thank you so much for reading this, for sharing, for your support. it truly means the world.

justine

justineleehooper.com