CRESCENDO ACADEMY OF MUSIC INC

Crescendo Academy of Music's mission is to provide individualized music instruction in a positive and supportive atmosphere to all persons regardless of age, ability or income. We offer individual lessons and classes on a wide variety of instruments to a diverse population; babies through adults participate in our programs.

Crescendo seeks the following outcomes: program growth, reaching underserved populations (income, race, age, ability), improving quality of life for program participants (especially for members of Community Voices and for older program participants), fostering a lifelong love of music (especially in our programs for children), and successful public performances for students taking private lessons as well as participants in ensembles.

Crescendo works toward this mission by providing private and group instruction in instrumental and vocal music from highly qualified musician-teachers to people throughout Southwest Michigan. The Academy also offers performance opportunities; lessons in music theory and composition; ensembles; Orff Studio classes; Music Together®, a nationally recognized early childhood program; and Community Voices, a program for teens and adults with mental and/or physical challenges.

We also go into the community. We offer Music Together at off-site locations; we provide a zero-hour strings program at Vicksburg Community Schools, a rural school district; and, through a collaboration with Kalamazoo Public Schools, we provide string coaches at Maple Street Magnet for the Arts middle school.

The Academy collaborates with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra (KSO) to offer Marvelous Music!, building social-emotional skills (active participation, focus, expression) and Kindergarten readiness skills (motor skills, musical aptitude, pre-reading skills) through music and movement for over 700 preschool children in Head Start, Great Start Readiness Programs, and other underserved children in the greater Kalamazoo area. This program offers weekly Music Together classes, Musical Storybooks with the KSO Burdick-Throne String Quartet, CDs and books for the home, Great Music for Great Kids CD and activity book, KSO Family Discovery concert tickets, and private string lessons for select students.

Crescendo Academy of Music has been in existence for over 35 years. All of Crescendo's teaching artists have a music degree and/or many years of experience teaching their instruments; many hold or are working toward Master's degrees and some hold a doctorate. Our teaching artists are also performers, holding leadership positions in orchestras, participating in small ensembles, and serving as accompanists throughout Southwest Michigan and Northern Indiana.

Crescendo's board represents key stakeholders, including Crescendo faculty, students and parents of students, community members, and members of the arts and educational community. Board members bring a variety of professional expertise, including knowledge of finance, fundraising, education, human resources, marketing, and the arts.

Crescendo's on-site enrollment reached 627 in March of 2019. Across all programs we reached over 1,250 children and adults with the number of contact/teaching hours totaling over 26,000. Crescendo Academy's Music Together® classes for children ages 0 – 5 and the adults who love them, continues to grow, and we have introduced a Music Together Generations class in which elder “grand-friends" participate with parents and children. The classes are held in an elder facility, and we are hoping to expand this program in the coming years.

Enrollment across all programs declined during COVID times, but have rebounded quickly.

Enrollment in the Crescendo Community Voices Ensemble has continued to increase. Clearly, our team teaching approach of three (a certified music therapist, our Orff Schulwerk Specialist, and the director of the Kalamazoo Regional Education Service Agency's Young Adult Choir) is working. The focus remains on teens and adults with special needs; however the choir and musical experiences are open to everyone with an open mind and an open heart. Our ensemble programs consist of both children and adult groups, including the Kalamazoo Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra, Crescendo Fiddlers, and a variety of student ensembles. The Crescendo Community String Orchestra was launched in the spring of 2023 in response to requests from some of our adult students who wanted to play in an ensemble.

The need for more funds for student financial assistance is ever-present. Each year, we are unable to award funds to all the students who request aid, and some students never make it off the waiting list for assistance.