June 16th, 2025

Greetings folks,

      This past Saturday was a day of healing. No I’m not talking about protests that were across the country or a big military/birthday March in the city of Washington DC. It was a day of healing for us at Bernunzio Uptown Music and for our family, personally. On Saturday morning, we had a fantastic workshop with Steve Greene. Old friends came from far distances just to spend some time with Steve, who had been away from the public eye for the past six years. Steve was a well-known player in town and accompanied many bands from soft jazz to heavy metal (in his early days!). He really hadn’t played out or done any kind of work since Covid hit. On Saturday, he was in his element at the back room of Bernunzio‘s talking about guitar, talking about obscure chords and talking about music. Afterwards. Steve sent me a text and said thanks for the chance to heal. I’m so happy to be part of that process.

   Then, on Saturday afternoon, we celebrated the life of my father-in-law, Henry Schnepf, at the Unitarian Church in Rochester. It’s the same place Julie and I were married, nearly 40 years ago. I had not been back since. It was a beautiful service and my daughter Kara spoke and Julie spoke and Henry’s 8 year old great-grandson Merrick gave a tender remembrance …it was a moment of sorrow but also healing….from the wound of death. But death is not final. He is gone in his physical presence, but we can feel his strong hand on our shoulders… guiding us in this way…. through us, through his friendships, through his children, through his grandchildren and his great grandchildren…. he has attained eternal life. Rest peacefully now, your work is done.

    On the storefront, Bernunzio’s has been very, very active. We have had a plethora of incredible vintage guitars coming through the doors and many more on the way. It is a transitionary time in the business where the old guard is starting to give up some of the hoarde of instruments that they have kept and treasured. So the cycle starts again with guitars that are now 100 years old and fine playing condition to be treasured by a new generation Look to our website. June is always an exciting month…it is the time of the Rochester International Jazz Festival as well as, perhaps,…a special sale…

With peace,   

John Bernunzio 

Friday, I had the opportunity to wheel around the corner from the store and attend World Heritage Day at my daughter Kara’s school, The World of Inquiry School. The kids brainstormed back in October and have been planning this schoolwide event since then. There are kids from so many different cultures attending that school and they all wanted to share something special from their homeland. It was simply a beautiful heartwarming experience.

From African cloth, to Pakistani hand drawings, to foods from far away lands… everyone had a story to tell and share.

another smashing event for Mrs. Miller, a great master teacher and my daughter…