By Laurie O’Neill — Correspondent
Music has been called “love looking for words” and described as the most profound and magical form of communication.
To Kate Yoder, the Concord Conservatory of Music’s founder and executive director, music is “the great connector.” People “who come to the school looking to gain musical skills are also seeking the opportunity to be with like-minded folks,” she said.
Yoder noted that the CCM supports local schools’ music programs and “wants our students to participate in them.”
The CMC, founded 18 years ago, offers private and group lessons and spring group classes for kids. That includes Family Notes, offered on Wednesdays beginning April 3 and on Thursdays beginning April 11.
Family Notes is a class for newborns through 4 years old and provides a comprehensive approach to stimulating a child’s physical, language, social, cognitive, and musical development through musical play with fun props and simple percussion instruments.
Yoder, who has a degree in business from Northeastern, is studying the mandolin and grew up playing the saxophone. “We always had music in our family,” she said. She founded the CCM when she had three children under 10 and realized there was nothing like a music school in the area.
Her goal, Yoder said, was to create a setting where “families could come together to all study music in the same place. Making music should be a shared experience.”
The CCM is “for people of all ages, abilities, and accessibility,” Yoder said. It offers classes at the West Concord Union Church and has 28 students at the Boys and Girls Club in Maynard. Enrolling more than 500 students yearly in private instruction and group classes, the CCM also provides singing and instrumental performing opportunities.
Yoder noted the CCM supports the music programs in local schools and that “We want our students to participate in them.”
A Bluegrass Jam is open to drop-ins, and in an ongoing Parkinson’s Group, participants work on breathing and learn vocal exercises. Family members and caregivers can attend, and the group enables participants to connect with others who have Parkinson’s.
As a non-profit, CCM serves Concord and 17 surrounding communities and offers need-based financial aid. For more information on or to register for the spring kids group classes and other programs, visit concordconservatory.org.
