Community Music School of Springfield

CONTACT:

127 State Street
Springfield, MA 01103
(413) 732-8428
communitymusicschool.com

Eric Bachrach, Executive Director

DESCRIPTION:

There is a strong, positive correlation between music education, scholastic achievement and vocational preparation, yet public school arts programs are notoriously underfunded; for example in Springfield, only 25 music teachers serve over 25,000 students. Philanthropy is not a solution, but it can help.

The Community Music School of Springfield (CMSS) was founded in 1983 to help compensate by providing high-quality, sequentially-based music education that fully respects and promotes multi-culturalism and diversity. This has involved a lot more than music instruction. In 1994, CMSS's former public school building was destroyed by flooding; within a week, the school reappeared in five locations.

In 1996 it received a generous gift of two spacious buildings from Fleet Bank. It occupied them in 1997, and in 1999 completed a successful $2 million capital campaign for renovations and scholarship funds. In 2000, 900 students (30% on scholarships) received weekly instruction in more kinds of vocal and instrumental music than one can think of, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council honored CMSS with the Commonwealth Award -- the state's highest honor for programs in the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences.

If you agree that first-class music instruction can make strategic differences in children's lives and formal education, this charity is for you.

(2001: CULTURE: Education: Formal: Schools)