Concord Conservatory of MusicConcord Conservatory of MusicThe Concord Conservatory of Music’s West Side String Program (WSS) blends Suzuki philosophy, Paul Rolland’s movement in string playing, and traditional string pedagogy. Shinichi Suzuki’s philosophy embraces the idea that all children are born with a musical ability that can be nurtured at an early age through their environment, listening, imitation, and working closely with a parent at home.
The traditional string pedagogy enhances these approaches by incorporating the development of technique and musicianship through scales, etudes, music reading, and a variety of repertoire. This approach assures teaching tailored to the individual student’s needs, with a strong emphasis on building confident solo performing, fluent music reading, and skillful ensemble participation, whether they lead to music-making at the highest level or a lifetime of enhanced musical enjoyment. Students will study a range of music in this program.
WSS students progress through the program with their peers, participating in groups, and later join ensembles or pursue studies in the fiddling track. Parent participation is required for students under 10 years old.
GROUP: Students play their shared repertoire in a motivating social environment that reinforces work done in lessons and hears pieces soon to be studied. Additionally, opportunities to play solos in class help students gain confidence as performers. Concerts and community events throughout the year bring students of all levels and ages together.
Our goal is to create well-matched classes and ensembles for the educational and musical benefit of all participants, hence the difficulty of adding specific age or repertoire level labels to our offerings. Some groups’ age range or level may vary slightly from year to year. Consideration for placement may include age, repertoire level, technical, musical, ensemble, performance and reading skills, fluency, attendance, emotional maturity, musical maturity, lesson preparation, and consistency of review.
Most ages, grades, and levels are approximate.
New beginner violin and viola students enrolling at CCM during the 2023-2024 academic year are required to participate in the West Side String Program, which includes each semester (fall/winter – spring) 17 30-minute private lessons and the 15 group classes. The semester tuition for this program is $1422.
Current CCM strings students are encouraged to enter the West Side String Program and participate in their level-appropriate group class or ensemble.
For more information and to register, please call (978)369-0010 or email us.