People's Music School

Founded in 1976, The People's Music Schoo l offers free group classes and private lessons to children throughout Chicago, regardless of their financial resources.[1] The People's Music School is located in Uptown, Chicago at 931 W. Eastwood Avenue. The School today offers instruction in a variety of instruments (including woodwind, piano, percussion, and string instruments), as well as ensemble, voice and theory classes to more than 850 students each year.[2] In exchange for free music education, parents of the students volunteer at the school for two hours a month.[3] The People's Music School also presents free concert performances to showcase the talents of its students and to give back to the neighborhood.[4]

History

Dr. Rita Simo (1934-2020), a Juilliard-trained classical pianist, founded People's Music School in 1976 in Chicago with $650 in donations in a rented storefront (former hair salon) with a piano donated by St. Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Church. She dreamed of having her own place to teach and convey the joy of learning music to other people and began with music lessons to a handful of Hispanic, Asian and African-American students. Dr. Simo was inspired by the free music education she had received as a child in the Dominican Republic. "What we are doing is letting students discover their self-worth through their love of music," Simó states.[5] Twenty years later, Dr. Simo and the school directors erected the building currently housing the school, which features ten classrooms, a concert hall, a music library, and an outdoor patio.[6] Rita, as she is simply known to all, retired in 2001 from her position of Executive Director, but remained active on the Board until her death in September 2020.[2] The People's Music School hired Bob Fiedler as Executive Director in November 2005, who formerly served as the Development Director for an Uptown homeless services agency (REST) and Director of a local Muscular Dystrophy Association chapter.[7] In 2014, Jennifer Kim Matsuzawa became President and Artistic Director of The People's Music School and has lead the organization through tremendous growth. Jennifer Kim Matsuzawa is an accomplished pianist who also spent over 10 years with Bain & Company. As a student at Northwestern University, Jennifer taught at The People's Music School and her senior thesis was even inspired by her teaching at People's. Currently, the school serves nearly 1,000 students throughout Chicago with its main academy in Uptown and three additional satellite locations in Bronzeville, Back of the Yards and Albany Park. In September 2020, the school launched their first national expansion pilot in East Palo Alto, CA with the Ravenswood School District.

References
  1. Music Marathon Fundraiser to Benefit People's Music School May 1-2
  2. The People's Music School Archived 2010-01-02 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Chicago Reader Uptown Neighborhood Recreation & Education Guide Archived 2009-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Free performances by members of the Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra
  5. President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities Archived 2009-02-05 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Dominican Presides Over No-Cost Music School
  7. People's Music School History

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