Best Local Music Schools

Where To Shop: Music Schools: Whether you’re looking to round out your child’s early education or you’re nurturing the next Yo Yo Ma or Stevie Ray Vaughn, these area music schools are a good way to learn how to tickle the ivories, bow, pick or blow. From classical to jazz, legato to staccato, Bonnaroo to Carnegie Hall their private lesson and performance options are designed to take your child from beginner to the public stage.

School of Rock – Bedford: Bedford’s School of Rock franchise is one of over 175 locations worldwide. Their performance based music school offers private lessons and performance programs for guitar, drum, piano, bass and vocals for the beginner to the advanced player and adults. Yes, adults.

Their performance programs, for kids who know the basics of how to play their instrument, begin with a weekly 45 minute private lesson and a weekly 3 hour group rehearsal and end with two onstage gigs at a real local music venue such as MTK Tavern in Mt. Kisco. You can plug into their 16-week semester programs at anytime and they’ll get your child up to speed on one, two, six or as many songs as they can learn to perform live with their class band before they play out on East Main Street.

S.O.R. is famous for their themed programs and their eclectic rock repertoires with classes that have ranged in scope from Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones, Black Keys vs. White Stripes, Led Zeppelin, Steely Dan, Women of Rock and Best of the 80s. Their spring 2016 semester programs include The Ramones vs. The Clash, The Who, Motown, and 90’s Alternative Rock that includes songs from Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Alanis Morissette. They even line up all the course songs for the kids on Spotify so they can study at home. Fun for the parents, too. Make sure you have your video act together for the public concerts.

The best SOR students can be invited into their House Band that rehearses weekly and performs at local venues, festivals and community events. The House Band is the first audition based experience for SOR students that prepares them to audition for the worldwide SOR AllStars who tour each summer and have performed at Lollapalooza, BB Kings and Austin City Limits and have shared the stage with Peter Frampton, Eddie Vedder, Slash, Robbie Krieger and John Anderson of YES. Bedford’s House Band currently has gigs lined up at Social 6 and The Winery at St. George. In the past they have performed at Gathering of the Vibes, Westport’s Blues Views & BBQ Festival and the Danbury Fields Forever Beatles Festival.  (12 Court St., Bedford, 914.234.0418; www.schoolofrock.com) 

Lagond Music School: The Lagond Music school teaches contemporary music with the same rigor traditionally applied to classical training. Headed by world class saxophonist Charlie Lagond, who has performed with everyone from Chet Baker and Woody Herman to Chuck Mangione, Natalie Cole, The Jackson Five and Kid Creole & The Coconuts, the Lagond Music School offers private instruction and band workshops for all instruments and voice, music theory, composition, recording and production with a special focus on jazz, Latin Funk, rock and singer/songwriters.

Lagond Music’s faculty are working professionals, who like Charlie have worked and performed with music icons from Little Stevie Van Zandt, Southside Johnny and the E Street Band to Chet Baker, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Chick Corea, Kenny Rankin, Elton John, Phil Ramone, Rod Stewart and countless others. Addy Kaegi, who co-founded Kid Creole and the Coconuts and created their outlandish outfits and wacky choreography teaches performance at the school.

The school’s programs emphasize performance training as part of their curriculum and each year they invite some of their top students, the Lagond All Stars, to go on the ultimate field trip – a three-week, multi-city tour where they perform in professional venues across the country. The brainchild of the school’s Executive Director Rosanne Lana, the All Stars’, that in 2015 included Chappaqua’s Theo Basdikian, took a three week road trip where they performed in Harlem, Coney Island, Rockaway Beach, Hershey Park, PA, Philadelphia, Ocean City MD, Nashville TN and Washington DC. In past years, the Lagond All Stars have toured the West Coast, Texas, Quebec and the Midwest.

Lagond offers programs for beginners, starting at age 6, through the most advanced music students in highs school who are contemplating studying music in college or attending a music conservatory. Lagond Music’s hands-on conservatory college prep program can boast being the only afterschool music program in the US to get 100% of their applicants admitted to Berklee College of Music for 10 consecutive years. Their 2017 class received $1.5 million college scholarships.

Past Lagond Music grads have gone on to attend Harvard, Brandeis, Vassar, Wesleyan and Skidmore in addition to the Berklee College of Music, NYU’s Steinhardt School of Music, the Peabody School of Music at Johns Hopkins, USC’s Thornton School of Music, the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater & Dance, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, Cal Arts, the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, the New School’s program in Jazz and Contemporary Music and the Music Conservatory at SUNY Purchase. Several of their students have been chosen to perform in the annual Grammy® Awards High School bands as well as YoungArts Award Winners.

Lagond Music also offers a multitude of program for adults including adult jam sessions in The Haven, their rehearsal studio and performance venue, adult band coaching and band workshops. Check it out here.  (9 Haven St., Elmsford, 914-345-0512; www.lagondmusic.com)

Amadeus Conservatory of Music: The Grande Dame of local music schools is concert violinist Deborah Molodofsky’s Amadeus Conservatory with locations in both Chappaqua and Bedford. Amadeus offers lessons in all string, brass, woodwind, percussion instruments (including guitar and harp) and voice in both classical and contemporary music.

Their list of programs is long and impressive ranging from early childhood and low cost half-hour prelude classes for beginners to Suzuki violin and cello, music theory, rock band, jazz improvisation and digital composition, production and recording classes where students learn to compose, arrange and record their own rock and jazz pieces.

They also offer ensemble programs in jazz and chamber music (that Deborah teaches), rock workshops and a summer musical theatre camp for ages 6-16 that culminates with a full-length musical production. Past productions include West Side Story, Anything Goes, Little Shop of Horrors and Frozen.

For students above the beginner level, Amadeus offers free NYSSMA prep and free college audition coaching for college bound juniors or seniors who are thinking about applying to a music school. Deborah has helped guide advanced students through the supplemental application and audition process for Columbia, Harvard, Wesleyan, the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, Eastman School of Music and many others. (201 King St., Chappaqua & St. Matthews Church, 382 Cantitoe St., Bedford, 914.238.0388; www.amadeusconservatory.com)

Music in Chappaqua: Educating musical minds since 1993 towards performance and self-expression, Music in Chappaqua, nurtures students ages 3 and up for private lessons in piano, voice, violin, viola, cello, double bass, flute, trumpet, guitar, bass guitar, drum, clarinet, saxophone and songwriting. Their lessons are custom tailored to the student’s needs and they match each student with an appropriate faculty member to foster short term fun and long term success. Their Juilliard trained faculty can accommodate the needs of the most advanced musicians.

They also offer Rock Workshops where students are placed in a band, learn to play cover songs and original material of their choosing and after 12 one hour-long sessions play out for family and friends at local and NYC music venues. In the summer, their New York Rock Academy offers weekly full-day performance programs for the aspiring rock star ages 8-18. Each day includes two private lessons, two group workshops and two ensemble sessions to prep the band for their end of week rock concert. (225 N. Greeley Ave., Chappaqua, 914.238.3123; www.musicinchappaqua.com)

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, and the European conservatory tradition of musical excellence. The Conservatory’s internationally recognized faculty teach students of all ages and levels through both online and in-person learning for private lessons and classes. Musical interests in all instruments and genres from classical to jazz and rock to pop are welcome.

The school offers a robust Suzuki program for violin, cello, and piano, with some of the most experienced and qualified Suzuki teachers in Westchester County; a comprehensive Music Theory program, taking the students all the way through preparation for the AP Exam in Theory; an MCW Honors program recognizing the best high school students at the Conservatory; the unique MCW Prep program which helps to prepare the most talented high school instrumentalists and singers for admission to major college music programs and, potentially, careers in music performance; and a wide variety of programs for adults.

An extensive Scholarship Program helps serve the school’s mission to make it possible for deserving students to be able to study music at the Conservatory. The school’s Music Therapy Institute is Westchester County’s largest provider of music therapy services for children and adults with disabilities, as well as our military veterans through the national-recognized Healing Our Heroes program. (216 Central Ave, White Plains; 914-761-3900; www.musicconservatory.org)

Hoff-Barthelson Music School – Scarsdale: Founded in 1944, the Hoff Barthelson School has achieved national recognition as a premier community music school. Hoff Barthelson offers a comprehensive program in musicianship with classes in in theory, ear training and composition; ensemble opportunities for students at all levels, including Wind, Vocal and Jazz Ensembles, a multi-tiered orchestra program, and chamber music; as well as myriad performance opportunities throughout the year. Students also benefit from master classes, workshops, and coaching with world-renowned guest artists and members of the NY Philharmonic. The School’s Festival Orchestra was selected as an originating partner in the NY Philharmonic’s “Philharmonic Academy Jr. Program” – the only music school in the tri-state area to have been accorded this status.

The school also offers an Early Childhood Program for ages 3 months to kindergarten and well as adult program. (25 School Lane, Scarsdale, 914.723.1169; www.hbms.org)

For more local after school programs in Art, Dance, Music and Theatre check out our Kids Programs Directory.

Here’s more stuff to do with the kids

Sign up for the What To Do Email Newsletter … carefully curated for helicopter moms, satellite dads and no regrets parents.

More Where To Shop

Music Conservatory of Westchester was founded in 1929 in the American settlement house tradition of broad-based access and community service, and the European conservatory tradition of musical excellence. The Conservatory’s internationally recognized faculty teach students of all ages and levels through both online and in-person learning for private lessons and classes. Musical interests in all instruments and genres from classical to jazz and rock to pop are welcome.

The school offers a robust Suzuki program for violin, cello, and piano, with some of the most experienced and qualified Suzuki teachers in Westchester County; a comprehensive Music Theory program, taking the students all the way through preparation for the AP Exam in Theory; an MCW Honors program recognizing the best high school students at the Conservatory; the unique MCW Prep program which helps to prepare the most talented high school instrumentalists and singers for admission to major college music programs and, potentially, careers in music performance; and a wide variety of programs for adults.

An extensive Scholarship Program helps serve the school’s mission to make it possible for deserving students to be able to study music at the Conservatory. The school’s Music Therapy Institute is Westchester County’s largest provider of music therapy services for children and adults with disabilities, as well as our military veterans through the national-recognized Healing Our Heroes program. (216 Central Ave, White Plains; 914-761-3900; www.musicconservatory.org)