Electric Umbrella Emporium Grand Opening

Thanks to the success of our 1000 Instruments Campaign we are embarking on a brand new adventure - The Electric Umbrella Emporium.

Our amazing Emporium at The Marlowes Shopping Centre in Hemel Hempstead will have its Grand Opening on Saturday 14 May and we'd love you all to join us!

The Emporium is a showcase for everything we do. It is an eclectic mix of musical instruments for sale, reimagined instruments to interact with and a workshop to fix, re-imagine and service donated musical instruments. All of this creates an immersive experience for our members to develop and learn new skills. 

It also encompasses a brand new studio/live room where members can get involved with all aspects of live performance and create new and exciting music projects together. 

Importantly, our members will be at the heart of it all. Learning how to fix and repair instruments, honing their performance skills and interacting face to face with our customers in the shop, all while having a lot of fun!

Christian Taylor is our Technical Manager, working largely on our Instruments for Change project - he tell us it's the best job he's ever had! In his role, he helps our members restore and recondition instruments for us to sell. Christian loves his job working with our members, and he can't wait for the Emporium to open:

“For as long as I can remember, I’ve not been excited on a Sunday night about coming to work on a Monday morning. Instruments for Change is a really exciting project and the Emporium adds even more for our members to experience.

“Being a musician, working with instruments is a big bonus. But being able to create activities for our members is a really cool part of the job. Seeing how the members respond to music is amazing. Having more space for activities will help us create more amazing experiences.”

Since starting his role in January, Christian has seen the remarkable benefits that Electric Umbrella members get from Instruments for Change. 

“So many of our members look forward to coming. It provides a platform for them to meet other learning disabled people, and connecting through music just allows them to be themselves. The Emporium will provide our members with a space to recondition, sell, and of course play our instruments. We're all looking forward to the Grand Opening!"

The Grand Opening of the Emporium takes place from 10am-3pm. Electric Umbrella Patron and Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, Robert Voss, will be cutting our yellow ribbon at 11am - we can't wait to see you there!

Can't make it to visit our Emporium? Don't worry, visit our online store!