Sitting at the front desk of Villa Musica’s lobby, the sound of music flutters throughout the air. The practice rooms down the hall are filled with a constant stream of students, who are warmly greeted by their teachers in the lobby. As the sound of conversation follows them down the hall and into their lesson, words turn into music notes.
As a non-profit and an artistic space, it is only natural that Villa Musica has a story to tell– they just tell theirs through music. Founded in 2005 Villa Musica serves over 1500 students all over San Diego every week. Even so, Villa Musica hopes to expand their reach to more people, regardless of age, ethnicity, or household income, and show them the joys of making music and building community.
The community that Villa Musica has already built is already felt as soon as you walk through the door. The colorful, vibrant walls are decorated with photos from concerts and years past. Parents and siblings sit in the lobby as they wait for their family members to finish their lessons. Conversations in Chinese, Japanese, French, and Spanish float through the air, the preferred language of music connecting everyone.
The mission at Villa Music is simple; to provide accessible, high-quality music education to everyone, from all ages and all backgrounds. However, their impact is anything but. The lifelong benefits that come from the joy of music making, performance, and community engagement are incalculable. Music education in particular has been shown to increase creativity, working memory, and IQ scores. Furthermore, children who are engaged with the music-learning process have shown up to a 20% increase in their academic performances, and that just scratches the surface of the positivity that music can draw from life.
Villa Musica strives to maintain a standard of excellence in their music education while remaining attainable for everyone, regardless of income. They strongly believe that music, and the community that comes with it, should be available to those who want it. By employing certified and qualified musicians and teachers, Villa Musica believes not only in providing music education for everyone, but in doing it well.
A variety of classes are offered, ranging from individual private lessons with an instructor to group classes and full ensembles. Villa Musica believes that music truly has no limits to those who want to incorporate it into their lives. Whether you be a parent hoping to set your child up with musical roots, someone who wants to pursue a professional career in music, or just a grandmother who wants to sing to her grandchildren, Villa Musica has a class for you.
Supporting music making in any capacity will help more and more people reach and accomplish their musical goals–that they maybe didn’t even know they had or that they could achieve. Support for Villa Musica would ensure that we are able to reach more students of any age and any background. Even more, donations to our programs help us ensure that our students receive the quality education that they deserve.
All of our proceeds go directly towards providing even more access to music for kids in low income neighborhoods throughout San Diego. Villa Musica also consists of several satellite programs throughout the city for free. While these programs teach musical skills and strongly encourage the pursuit of mastery, they also use music as a tool to help teach about positive community making skills and challenge them to learn new things.
Villa Musica hopes to show people that music can be whatever you want it to be, and that anyone and everyone should feel at home in their purple and green halls. They have created a space for stories to be told, in every way (but mostly through music) and want to welcome you to it.