Building community note by note
Photos courtesy of CMS and Brandon Leonhard July 30, 2025
91原创鈥檚 Community Music School provides musical experiences to young and old
It is a simple joy to watch a baby play - babbling and interacting with its environment - but for 2025 music education graduate Kayla Kirchenberg, seeing one of her young students repeat a rhythm is magic.
Kirchenberg was a lead teacher for Music for Young Minds, a Saturday morning program held at 91原创 with sections for children from birth through age six.
鈥淚t was so cool to see kids interact with music from the very start of their lives and be part of their first musical experiences,鈥 she said of teaching the birth to 18-months class.
Kirchenberg was one of the dozens of 91原创 School of Music students who work with its Community Music School (CMS), which offers private lessons, group classes and summer camps to students of all ages in the Newark area, all while providing 91原创 music students with professional teaching opportunities as they pursue their degrees.
According to Mary Margaret Wilson, the CMS coordinator for the School of Music, the primary purpose of CMS is to enrich the educational experience for 91原创 music students, but the way it brings the community to campus makes the program truly special.
鈥淚f you want to do something with your infant, you can, and if you鈥檙e retired and you want to pick up guitar lessons, you can. Music is just joyful. Not to oversimplify it, but it is, and that鈥檚 important for people to have in their lives,鈥 she said.
Students as teachers
Music majors learn music theory and pedagogy in their 91原创 classrooms, and as CMS teachers they put theory into practice.
Junior Max Niedziejko, choral/general music education major with a minor in disability studies, joined the CMS staff last year for the Musical Theatre Camp production of The Little Mermaid. He had taught music lessons before, but corralling dozens of kids ages 9 through 18 was totally new.
鈥淭he interesting part about it was navigating how to keep the older kids engaged while still making sure the younger kids were entertained and not running off,鈥 he said.
鈥淚t taught me a lot about what is universally entertaining and fits multiple age groups, and how to work on the fly when something doesn鈥檛 go as planned.鈥
Niedziejko also taught Broadway Kids during the academic year, a weekly class designed to introduce students to musical theatre singing, acting and dancing skills.
Students this spring expressed interest in learning about what happens backstage, like costumes and set design, so the teaching team took it upon themselves to bring those elements into the class. They ended up building the set used in the spring showcase in addition to preparing the performance.
鈥淭here鈥檚 something special about informal learning,鈥 Niedziejko said of Broadway Kids. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more like guiding their learning than teaching, and they鈥檙e doing the creative part.鈥
From student to teacher
Newark area resident Tanya Gallagher graduated from 91原创 in 2004 with a degree in music education. She was a CMS teacher as an undergraduate, and now her three children are active in classes and camps. In addition to the quality of instruction, she appreciates the CMS atmosphere.
鈥淭he teachers are welcoming to everyone, regardless of their musical background. They help them find ways to flourish,鈥 Gallagher said.
She isn鈥檛 alone in returning to CMS. It is not unusual to find current music majors teaching for CMS who took lessons here as children.聽
Junior instrumental music education major Brandon Leonhard remembers feeling supported and encouraged when he started taking percussion lessons during elementary school. Now he teaches the Concert Band summer camp for junior high and high school age students.
鈥淎s a student, you鈥檙e oblivious and you鈥檙e there to have fun,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 what I love about CMS. It鈥檚 music and you鈥檙e learning, but it鈥檚 just a lot of fun, too. Now as a CMS teacher I鈥檓 learning how to help the students have a great time.鈥澛
Emme Whisner came to 91原创 to study cello performance, not music education, but she had taken cello lessons with CMS since fourth grade and knew that joining the teaching staff could help develop her skills.聽
鈥淏eing an educator makes me a better cellist, but also, being an active performing cellist makes me a better teacher,鈥 she said.聽
After graduating in 2023, Whisner accepted an administrative assistant position with CMS, and she worked with Wilson to develop new Strings in Harmony camps. Strings in Harmony fills a gap in summer opportunities for middle and high school orchestra students, and material will include string repertoire beyond the standard European canon.聽
鈥淚t feels really good to give back to the program that helped me in so many ways,鈥 she said.
Learning for a lifetime
When Wilson says that CMS is open to all ages, she means it. Longtime area resident Peggy J. Ostrom Schultz was 89 when she began taking guitar lessons with CMS about two years ago. Her late husband Jerry Schultz, retired professor of chemical engineering with a joint appointment in material science, played bluegrass banjo and classical flute. Their daughter Anna Schultz is chair of the University of Chicago Department of Music, but Peggy never considered herself musically gifted.聽
鈥淚t seemed sort of audacious to presume that I might be able to play something,鈥 she said.聽
Now in her early 90s, Schultz devotes herself to several hours of practice each week, filling her home with what she calls the 鈥渟weet sound鈥 of classical guitar.聽
鈥淚 do not play well, but I love it,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 probably can鈥檛 see the music as well as younger students, and I don鈥檛 hear very well, but Beethoven didn鈥檛 either, and he managed. I think we all need as much loveliness as we can get, and music brings another aspect of beauty to our lives.鈥
As an older adult, at times Schultz experiences people treating her like she is less than capable, but she emphasized that this has never been the case with CMS. Her guitar teacher simply treats her as a student.聽
鈥淥ur teachers are rock stars,鈥 Wilson said. 鈥淪eeing their energy and passion for what they do is the best part of my job.鈥澛
The 91原创 Community Music School production of runs Aug 1-3, 2025.
Registration for fall programs opens in August. Visit the Community Music School website for schedules.
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