Music Conservatory of Westchester

Music instructionthe Music Conservatory of Westchester (mcw) is a nonprofit community Music school founded in 1929 in The american settlement house tradition of community service and The european Conservatory tradition of excellence. Legendary cellist pablo casals was among its founders, and jazz legend cab calloway once served on its board. Mcw's mission is to provide The extraordinary benefits of Music to all in our community. Today, we serve 2,500 students of all ages, abilities and backgrounds: 700 who take lessons and classes in our white plains facility and 1800 who participate in outreach programs on collaboration with 28 community partners. Our Music programs include one-on-one instrumental and vocal instruction, performing ensembles, theory, composition, early childhood classes, summer programs and workshops, lifelong learning for adults, and free community performances. Instruction is provided by a faculty of 75 professional musicians and educators, of whom 80% hold master or doctoral degrees. Our mission-based programs are designed to ensure that every student has The opportunity to participate in Music. Our scholarship program provides need-based tuition assistance for financially deserving students, ensuring they can pursue Music training from preschool through high school. Scholarship program alumni have been accepted to The nation's top universities and conservatories, including university of chicago, yale university, new york university, johns hopkins university, columbia university, The juilliard school, peabody Conservatory, Indiana university school of Music, and many others. Our alumni include professors at johns hopkins university and mit, a Music teacher in rochester ny, a local pediatrician, flutist mindy kaufman (new york philharmonic), internationally acclaimed pianists william wolfram and garrick ohlsson, milwaukie symphony conductor ken-david masur, and thousands of alumni in countless professions right here in Westchester and all around The nation. In fall 2022 we completed construction of five important new teaching studios, including an audio/video recording studio and digital piano lab which now house technology-based Music programs. The Conservatory is The very first organization in The Westchester region to offer a precollege certificate program in recording engineering and Music production. The recording studio is networked to The school's recital hall to facilitate high quality recordings of our student and faculty performances. We also offer live-streamed performances, workshops and other public presentations. The project was supported by a new york state regional economic development grant and private donations. One of only 16 community Music schools nationwide to hold accreditation from The national association of schools of Music, The Conservatory has inspired generations of students and contributed to a vibrant musical life in The county, The region and beyond.

Performancesperformance is an integral component of The Conservatory's educational programs, with student and faculty performances taking place at The Conservatory and in The community. Students have opportunities to perform as soloists, and in performing ensembles. Faculty concerts offer an opportunity to hear high level professional performances in comfortable, familiar locations. All concerts are free and open to The public. The majority of student recitals take place in The Conservatory's beautiful 150- seat recital hall, and are recorded from The control room of our recording studio. Two faculty ensembles The mcw faculty string quartet and The mcw faculty jazz ensemble are currently performing live-streamed concerts from our recording studio and recital hall. Community concerts also take place in local libraries, community centers, and other similar venues. Master classes are also scheduled at The Conservatory in which selected students are coached by guest artist-teachers. Performance classes for students in our honors and prep programs additionally provide opportunities for our advanced high school students to hone their performance skills.

Outreach programthe Conservatory's Music therapy institute (mti) was established in 1986 to expand its programs to include individuals with disabilities. Today The program serves 1,800 children and adults, providing individual and small-group Music therapy onsite at The Conservatory, and group Music therapy on an outreach basis in partnership with 28 organizations, including public school districts, special education programs, medical facilities, senior care centers, and social service agencies. Services are provided by a faculty of 12 board-certified Music therapists who hold undergraduate degrees in Music and masters or doctoral degrees in Music therapy. The Conservatory building includes a dedicated Music therapy unit with four session studios and an observation room fitted with one-way mirrors and head sets, enabling parents, caregivers and other therapy providers to observe sessions. Mti has received awards from arts Westchester and from ascap (american society of composers, authors and publishers). In 2013, mti established healing our heroes, providing Music therapy services for u.s. military veterans dealing with war-related injuries, at no cost to them or their families. Serving 15-20 veterans each year, The program provides each veteran with two to three years of weekly individual Music therapy sessions, as well as two weekly group sessions: Music for self-care which helps veterans learn to use Music for relaxation and stress reduction; The veterans band which gives veterans The opportunity to make Music together and to compose original songs. Healing our heroes has been recognized and supported by disabled american veterans, and is featured in Music vets, a recently released documentary film about The challenges faced by veterans dealing with The wounds of war as they struggle to readjust to civilian life. Music vets was premiered at The kennedy center in october, 2023 and has had screenings at The bedford playhouse, new york university and other locations.