But I wanted something more than the average living room music lesson. I wanted him to see other students playing different instruments. I wanted it to be social. And I wanted the flexibility to introduce music in ways that appealed to all his senses. In defining what I wanted for my son, I discovered a desire to bring this experience to other families who wanted the same for their children. I started Neighborhood Music in my basement in three makeshift studios. Within six months, we had 8 teachers and 75 students, and within a year, we had 150 students flowing through our home each week! Shortly after beginning Neighborhood Music, we started a children’s theatre company and were producing fully realized plays in our backyard with sets, full tech, costumes, and a cardboard stage.
We moved into our first commercial location in 2015 and then into the Stanley Marketplace in 2018. We have 52 teachers and five administrative staff. We teach 18 instruments. We have a stand-alone children’s theatre company and produce 6 musicals and plays during the school year and do 22 theater-based summer camps. We have eight rock bands including an adult folk band. We seek unique performance and learning opportunities and have taken groups of students to Mozart’s home in Vienna, The Tosca Opera Festival near Rome, and to New York to perform on Broadway. We teach theater and music in 12 schools and have started a dance company.
