Music in the Mountains is hosting Instrument Discovery Day on Saturday at Fort Lewis College. Kids can try out more than a dozen different instruments. Lane Hunter, 6, son of Sharon and Paul Hunter, blurted out a loud, clean note on the trombone at last year’s event.
Music in the Mountains is hosting Instrument Discovery Day on Saturday at Fort Lewis College. Kids can try out more than a dozen different instruments. Lane Hunter, 6, son of Sharon and Paul Hunter, blurted out a loud, clean note on the trombone at last year’s event.STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald

Music in the Mountains is offering young people a chance to try instruments free of charge at its Instrument Discovery Day on Saturday at Jones Hall at Fort Lewis College. The deadline to sign up is Monday.

The day, split into three sessions, offers a chance to try a multitude of instruments, including voice, guitar, piano as well as orchestral and band instruments such as violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet, saxophone, horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba and percussion. Free mini-lessons will be available on each instrument, so attendees can actually try the instruments.

Katzin Music, which founded the event, continues as the primary sponsor.

Playing a musical instrument isn’t just a fun activity. Numerous studies have found that studying music can significantly improve students’ performance in other school subjects. And a study for the Journal of Neuroscience did a study that “suggests the importance of music education for children today and for healthy aging decades from now.”

[email protected] This story has been updated to reflect Katzin Music’s sponsorship.

If you go

There are three sessions available for Instrument Discovery Day, from 8:30 to 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 2:30 to 5 p.m. on Jan. 24 at Jones Hall at Fort Lewis College. Young people ages K-12 are welcome. Reserve your space at www.musicinthemountains.com or by calling 385-6820. The offices are closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but leaving a message is acceptable.