Programs and results
What we aim to solve
At Villa Musica we are sometimes asked by parents, donors, potential supporters, school principals, and local businesses these questions: Why is making music important? Why do we need a place to make music? We can respond by talking about the lack of music in schools, or the fact that making music is fun and promotes discipline and creativity. But we believe that there is an even stronger argument for a community school like Villa Musica to exist. Playing an instrument provides an outlet for self-expression, creativity, dedication to task, skill development, adaptability, and a myriad of other important interactions. Most importantly, active music making creates community. Being part of an orchestra, a band, a choir or just learning in a group environment brings like-minded people together. Issues of race, religion, political affiliation and socio-economic segregation that many social interactions highlight are wholly undone by the simple act of making music.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Villa Musica Financial Aid Program
In keeping with Villa Musica's mission, we are dedicated to offering needs-based scholarships to help with the cost of tuition. Applicants are of all ages and backgrounds and apply for many varied reasons. Currently, 57 students receive $50,000 in funding for tuition support.
SDUSD Partnership - Band Boost/String Zing/Choir Fire
In the Fall of 2012, Villa Musica established the Band Boost/String Zing/Choir Fire music enhancement program in partnership with the San Diego Unified School District's Visual and Performing Arts program. After piloting this program at Whitman Elementary, the program has been established at a further 15+ schools in a variety of communities across San Diego County. Students in this program receive lessons/sectionals in small groups to "boost" their understanding and proficiency on their instrument. Students from local high schools are encouraged to mentor the younger students, under the supervision of Villa Musica faculty and the district's credentialed teacher, to encourage good practice and to inspire continued study. The high schoolers receive community service credit for their time, contributing in a meaningful way to their high school graduating criteria.
Community Music Initiative/Satellite Programs
Villa Musica's mission is to inspire people of all ages and backgrounds to explore the joy and lifelong value of music through education, performance and community engagement. We offer group classes, individual music lessons, summer music camps, and community-based performances. The Villa Musica Strings Project offers violin lessons to elementary and middle-school students from one of the County's most economically disadvantaged communities. It operates in donated space at Our Lady School K-8 in Logan Heights, where approximately 75 children participate in after school string lessons twice a week.
Additionally, satellite sites in four low-income neighborhoods provide FREE lessons (and instruments) through local branch libraries; Logan Heights, Malcolm X, College/Rolando and Linda Vista. In addition to violin classes, satellite programming offers guitar lessons, early childhood music, singing classes and a multi-generational Mariachi ensemble.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts - Member 2006
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Total number of classes offered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth, Low-income people
Related Program
Villa Musica Financial Aid Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Classes are offered at our Main Campus and throughout the community at satellites, schools and senior centers.
Total number of free performances given
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Adults, Seniors
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Villa Musica's Ensembles and Classes provide performance opportunities for its members 2/3 times a year. Each performance is a culmination of a semester's hard work and is offered free to the public.
Total dollars paid to artists
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Artists and performers
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Villa Musica is proud to employ 42 local teaching artists.
Total number of students participating in private lessons
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Adults, Seniors
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Villa Musica provides private lessons in bass (electric/stand-up), cello, clarinet, drum set, flute, guitar (classical/electric), piano, saxophone, trombone/trumpet, viola, violin, voice
Average dollar price for classes
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Adults, Seniors
Related Program
Villa Musica Financial Aid Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Villa Musica prides itself in keeping prices low to make sure that access to quality music education is a priority. Our financial Aid program helps those in need with tuition support upon request.
Number of free registrants to classes
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Adults, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Community Music Initiative/Satellite Programs
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Villa Musica's Access Initiative provides free classes in low income communities through its Satellite Programs.
Number of paid registrants to classes
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Adults, Seniors
Related Program
Villa Musica Financial Aid Program
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Villa Musica's main campus in Sorrento Valley is home to 439 private students (children and adults) and a further 175+ participants in group classes and ensembles who come in on a weekly basis!
Number of professional artists employed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Artists and performers
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Villa Musica is proud to employ 42 teaching artists from the San Diego area. All teaching artists have at least a degree in music if not a Masters' or Doctorate. All are employees (not contractors)!
Total number of performances
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Community Music Initiative/Satellite Programs
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
All Ensembles and Group Class activities culminate in a FREE concert for the community. This number reflects Community Ensembles, Summer Orchestras, Group Class Recitals, and ENCORE! concerts.
Number of entities served by expertise
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Community Music Initiative/Satellite Programs
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
During the 2021/22 Academic Year, Villa Musica partnered with 56 partners across San Diego County.
Hours of expertise provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Community Music Initiative/Satellite Programs
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
30,660 hours of private lessons, group class instruction, ensemble coaching, summer camp fun, student recitals, and FREE concerts for the public.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Villa Musica will be a leader in providing access to high quality music education to students of all ages and abilities. We will continue to build a broad range of programs that serve the San Diego community at our main campus, neighborhood satellites, with partnering organizations and schools.
#TransformingLivesthroughMusic
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
By providing a nurturing environment for music education to flourish, Villa Musica's Board, staff and faculty strive to:
-- Encourage and inspire emerging musicians of all ages to engage in the act of making music.
-- Provide access to students seeking financial and/or geographical support by offering scholarships and classes at -- Satellite locations across the county
-- Employ a diverse faculty of teaching artists who look like the people they serve
-- Design partnerships with other Arts and Culture organizations to enrich and deepen the arts education experience
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Villa Musica celebrated its 15th year of operation in November 2020, and with this exciting milestone comes a sense of stability and sure footedness that only experience and reputation can provide. Our proven record of offering quality programming and maintaining fiscal stability is a positive indicator that we are capable of executing the goals set forth above.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Villa Musica celebrated its 15th year anniversary in November of 2020, a significant milestone that saw this young non-profit ride the wave of this country's worst economic climate since the 1930's, and a pandemic, and still remain buoyant.
In 15 years the annual operating budget has grown from $6,000 to just over $1.2 million, we have expanded from a faculty of five to thirty, and our student body has grown from 100 to more than 1200 taking lessons or participating in an ensemble on a weekly basis.
With growth comes stability, on one hand, and vulnerability on the other. As our young organization grows, so does our susceptibility to the vagaries of cash flow issues, overhead expansion and the drift away from the intimacy that a small organization so often cherishes in those early years. It is difficult, sometimes, to reconcile the strength that growth inspires with the shift in organizational culture. Villa Musica is acutely aware that bigger does not always mean better and in response to its community values strives to maintain its welcoming and nurturing environment.
Villa Musica has recently identified that a new space is on the horizon in the not-too-distant future. We are bursting at the seams in Sorrento Valley and thus, a feasibility study has begun to assess our need and the commercial real estate market.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Villa Musica
Board of directorsas of 01/24/2023
Olivier Harismendy
Zentalis Pharmaceuticals
Term: 2022 - 2024
Aram Akhavan
Qualcomm
Term: 2022 - 2024
Grace Ramos
HR Consultant
Olivier Harismendy
Zentalis Pharmaceuticals
Lana Hock
Baird Financial
Annette Giordano
Blue Horse Digital Marketing
Aram Akhavan
Qualcomm
LaDon Jones
National University
Melinh Nguyen
AMPL Optimization Inc.
Richard Rushton
Vista Hill
Jordy Rose
San Diego Opera
Yolanda Collier
County Office of Education
Sharon Popp
Retired Special Ed
William Gilmer
Retured Music Educator
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data