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Neighborhood Music School
Neighborhood Music School believes that lives change through music. Founded in 1914, we provide low cost/high quality one-on-one music instruction to those who need it most. Located in a charming Victorian house in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, we are proud to serve as an anchor to our community, a bridge to cultural exchange and opportunity, and an usher to the mentorship between teacher and student that is integral in music instruction and in life.
Music instruction
We currently offer private instruction in piano, violin, viola, cello, percussion, guitar, trumpet, flute, clarinet, saxophone, ukulele and voice. However, classes for other instruments can be added on an as needed basis. As students become more proficient in expressing themselves through singing or playing an instrument, they gain poise and self-assurance. Research indicates that developing musical literacy skills reinforces or catalyzes success in academic performance. Overall, musical expression positively affects self-esteem, test-taking success, a better school performance and so much more. Our mission is to not only teach music, but to help our students develop the joys, wonders and skills that passively arise from a multi-faceted music education.
Community Building
Our Community is our core and our biggest strength. The Neighborhood Music School has been a gathering place for neighborhood residents for generations. In addition to music instruction, we open our doors to the community for movie nights, concerts, picnics, special events and field trips. We pride ourselves on being an artistic home to our community of students, teaching artists, families, alumni, and new friends.
Performance Opportunities
Students have many performance opportunities . The last week of each month, each student participates in Showtime. Students and teachers gather in the parlor the last ten minutes of every half hour lesson to perform for each other informally. Through these monthly performances, students build confidence and gain valuable experience. Students who are ready also perform in four in-person Student Recitals and four Virtual Recitals each year. Students, teaching artists and ensemble classes are often invited to perform at community events throughout the year.
our house
The Victorian house in which the school educates is listed in “Architecture in Los Angeles” (Gebhard & Winter) as one of only two 19th-Century houses in the area. After the 1987 earthquake, the house was retrofitted and restored from the bottom to the top to its Victorian beauty, thanks to grants from eleven foundations and with the contribution of the contracting skills of Nicholas Akers, a music-lover and prize-winning restoration contractor in Pasadena.
The two-story house holds eight practice rooms. Although each room is unique in its atmosphere, every one is furnished with a piano. Downstairs, the parlor doors open to the main room, allowing a space for recitals and showtimes throughout the year. There is limited parking available on the property for students and teachers during lesson times.
