Business Spotlight: The Magic Flute

The Magic Flute

182 Northgate One, San Rafael

(415) 479-3112,  customerservice@themagicflute.com

What do they offer?

For over 30 years, music has been the name of the game at the Magic Flute. Whether you need a new trumpet for band practice, your Fender repaired or the sheet notes to your favorite Johnny Cash album, the Flute has you covered. In addition to retail offerings, the store also hosts private music lessons and free public seminars, clinics, recitals and performances. 

The store is dedicated to providing a "musical oasis" for budding minds and tried hands alike, as owner Christian Dean describes it. Amongst their substantial inventory of strings, straps and amps are the deep roots of a communal institution.

Who are they?

Dean and his wife Tamara Osheroff purchased the business from original owner Michael Mitchell in April 2010. Dean has been involved with the store for almost as long as Mitchell, first working there while attending . 

He maintained an on-and-off employment with the Flute while he attended college at San Francisco State and graduate school at University of California, Santa Barbara before becoming a political science professor at Dominican University in 1996. During this stretch Dean did, in his words, "just about everything," including sales, managing the store and working as a guitar repair technician. 

Dean trusts his staff of 15 for most of the Flute's needs, as he is still a fully tenured professor at Dominican, teaching moral and political philosophy. Among them are Spike Klein (bookkeeper/jazz drummer), Rob Roth (sales manager/tenor sax god), Linda Paplow (printed music department) and Michael "The Fiend" Creamer (assistant manager and guitar encyclopedia). 

How long have they been there?

The Magic Flute is currently in its 35th year of operation. Michael Mitchell started the company in 1976, in Terra Linda. A few years later he moved the store to Northgate One, where it currently remains. 

Why are they in our Business Spotlight?

The joy Dean takes in his work is evident as he finds his store in the midst of "rental return season," the time when students who've rented instruments for the school year bring them back. Perhaps some store owners be would less than thrilled to face an onslaught of adolscents with tubas and violins. Not Dean. He instead cherishes the moment when a student makes the choice to re-up their rental for another school year, and renew their musical experience. 

"The Magic Flute embraces its mission to be a community resource in support of musical inspiration and expression for musicians of all generations and skill levels," he said.

To learn more about The Magic Flute, visit them online at  http://www.themagicflute.com/