MUSIC CONSERVATORY OF WESTCHESTER

Music Conservatory of Westchester was founded in 1929 in the American settlement house tradition of broad-based access and community service. Legendary cellist Pablo Casals was among its founders, and jazz legend Cab Calloway once served on its board. The Conservatory’s mission is to provide the extraordinary benefits of music to all in our community. Today, the Conservatory provides quality music education for students of all ages, abilities and backgrounds, with one-on-one instruction, performing ensembles, theory, composition, early childhood classes, lifelong learning for adults, and free community performances. Our esteemed faculty, artists in their own right, help to enrich the lives of more than 3,100 students each year from 4 months to over 80 years.

Our Scholarship Program provides $180,000 in need-based tuition assistance each year for financially deserving students. Our Music Therapy Institute provides specialized music programs for 1,900 individuals with disabilities in collaboration with 30 partner organizations. In 2013 we launched Healing Our Heroes, providing music therapy services for military veterans, at no cost to them or their families.

In 2020 we are implementing a Legacy Project, creating new technology-based music programs, to be housed in new teaching studios constructed in 3,500 square feet of unfinished space in our building. The centerpiece will be a professional Recording Studio with audio and video capability, and a Digital Piano Lab. The Conservatory will become the very first in Westchester to provide precollege training in Recording Engineering and Studio Composition, scheduled for launch in fall, 2021. Three more studios will be constructed: upgraded Percussion Studio, large multi-purpose Rehearsal Studio, and an additional Music Therapy Studio to accommodate growing enrollment of students with disabilities. The Recording Studio will be networked to the school’s Recital Hall, the Digital Piano Lab, and the Percussion Studio.

As a community music school, we play a vitally important role in creating the musical landscape for the next generation. We appreciate the importance of the great traditions, and understand how to adapt them for the present and future, educating tomorrow’s performers, audiences and supporters of the arts. We contribute to youth development, helping to create a stronger work force through the life skills that music training supports: creativity, leadership, teamwork, discipline, confidence, and critical thinking. We help unite our county’s communities through the universal language of music, creating a common bond among diverse individuals and groups.

One of only sixteen non-degree-granting schools nationwide to be accredited by 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.