Community Programs
NMS partners with a number of organizations to offer additional programming for community members both on campus and on site at the community facilities. Some of our ongoing programs are described below.
NMS recently offered free guitar lessons at the Dixwell Children's Arts Festival.
ArtsPACK
ArtsPack is a collaboration between Neighborhood Music School (NMS), the Creative Arts Workshop (CAW), Music Haven (MH) and the New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) to provide classes music and visual arts classes for children ages 6-10 and their parents. The program is part of a larger PACK (Parents and Communities for Kids) initiative in which 16 cultural and community organizations function as community classrooms providing learning opportunities for families from the greater New Haven area. ArtsPack workshops are offered at NMS and CAW several times throughout the year. A program calendar is available at the Connecticut Children’s Museum. Primary funding for this program has come from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. For additional information about this program, please contact Elaine Thoma at ethoma@neighborhoodmusicschool.org.
Instrumental Impact
Of the roughly 350 students who benefit from reduced tuition at NMS, approximately half come from New Haven’s public and parochial schools. Of this group, more than 40 now participate in the NMS Instrumental Impact program, which provides financial scholarships to those who are musically inclined and could not otherwise afford to take private lessons. This program is run in partnership with New Haven Public Schools and draws from the John C. Daniels School of International Communication, the Davis Street Interdistrict Magnet School, the Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School, the Wexler/Grant Community School, Amistad Academy and the Mauro-Sheridan Interdistrict Magnet School of Science, Technology and Communications. Students are referred by their instrumental band and orchestra programs and then audition at NMS.
The project is designed to help develop the students’ musical skills as well as strengthen the school instrumental programs. Initial funding for Instrumental Impact came from a multi-year grant from the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven as well as support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Carolyn Foundation. NMS has since received funding from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism that will allow the School to continue to subsidize the lessons and ensemble participation of the participating students. It is also seeking additional grant support to expand the program.
Interested students at the participating schools should inquire with their school music teachers or speak with Elaine Thoma at NMS ethoma@neighborhoodmusicschool.org to learn more about the program.
Hopkins Program
The Hopkins Program offers students enrolled at the Hopkins School in New Haven the opportunity to pursue individual music instruction on site at Hopkins during the regular school day, eliminating the need to travel off campus. Interested families should contact Chris Radawiec, Program and Placement Manager at cradawiec@neighborhoodmusicschool.org or 203-624-5189, ext. 32
Community Performances
Within the NMS community reside numerous talented performers and exceptional ensembles. As part of our continued effort to collaborate with and support other Greater new Haven non-profits and arts organizations, NMS has been able to provide instrumental performances by select faculty and student ensembles at a variety of local community events.
In addition, we are happy to post notices of other local performance opportunities for members of the community. [Please note that for these latter opportunities, there are no fees or guaranteed matching and faculty are responsible for negotiating their own performance fees.]
Please complete the information below and our staff will contact you. Requests must be submit at least one month in advance of the event.
