Over the years, the Concord Community Music School’s patient and supportive instructors have helped many adult students from ages 35 to 105 fulfill their musical dreams. Two students, Martha Johnson and John Blackford, are from Hopkinton.

“Very often I feel my adult students have had a dream for a long time and finally are able to make it happen,” said instructor Birgit Matzerath. Half of her piano students are adults.

A desire to play the soulful music of Ken Burns’ Civil War series inspired Johnson to pick up a violin. She was 52 and had never held an instrument in her life.

Blackford, 77, loves music. He played the trumpet in high school and college and lends his bass voice to Concord’s annual “Messiah.” The management consultant also served two terms as a Concord Community Music School trustee, but, until recently, didn’t feel he had time for lessons.

Finding the courage to pursue a deferred dream may be the greatest challenge facing an adult student.

“I am inspired by the bravery of our adult beginners. They are confident experts in their day jobs but take the risk to be musical novices in public,” said Peggy Senter, president of the Concord Community Music School.

The original definition of the word amateur is “a lover of an activity,” Senter added. By that definition, the school’s adult students, like Johnson and Blackford, are amateurs in the truest sense of the word. Another challenge for adult learners is managing expectations, said Calvin Herst, Concord Community Music School’s director of education and community partnerships.

“Adults arrive with well-developed ears and ideas of what they want to do. But they often beat themselves up with high expectations of what they should be able to do,” he said. “Knowing where you want to get to is great, but only as long as you have a great time along the way.”

Nearly 30 percent of the Concord Community Music School’s 1,500 students are adults, and each of them offers a unique story. Johnson, a professional knitter and former Realtor, borrowed a violin and began lessons with instructor Carolyn Parrott.

“She made it comfortable to learn and was terrifically supportive,” Johnson said.

She soon traded in the violin for the mandolin and started lessons with instructor David Surette. Six months later she joined the adult folk ensemble. She has played at open sessions at The Barley House, at contra dances and at a barn-raising. She practices a half hour every day, but will often pick up the mandolin and play a tune while she’s on her way to feed the dog or do other chores.

“Other than my marriage and my children, I can’t think of anything as fulfilling as music,” Johnson said. “It has changed my life. It’s like eating a flavor of ice cream you’ve never tried before – maybe pineapple coconut -- and loving it.”

Two years ago, at age 75, Blackford felt he finally had time for lessons and began to study voice with Charlie Lindsey, who made him aware of the power of his voice as an instrument.

“The music school has a positive, welcoming attitude toward seniors learning music,” Blackford said. What Blackford really wanted to do, however, was take guitar lessons. So now he’s studying with Surette. This summer he treated his grandchildren to “Erie Canal,” “They Built the Ship Titanic” and other camp tunes from his own childhood.

“They thought it was corny, especially the older ones,” Blackford said. But that won’t deter him from his studies. Eventually, he hopes to join a Concord Community Music School ensemble.

“David treats me quite seriously and takes a certain amount of pleasure in my success,” Blackford said. “I appreciate that. I just get a lot of satisfaction out of making music.”

Young children may have some advantages in learning music, Herst said. They tend to be less self-conscious and possibly faster kinesthetic learners. But adults often have a greater understanding of complex emotions and are more eager, Herst noted, to embrace the chance “to find and express, in a non-language way, deep emotional content – to create something beautiful.”

“I am inspired by the ambitious challenges that our advanced adult students take on, their hard work on difficult music results in magical performances,” Senter said. “But I am most inspired by the caring, encouragement and support found within our community of adult students.”

Senter remembered one adult student’s first recital. At the refreshment table afterward, he smiled at his fellow students and said, “We are all so brave.”

“That sums up the mixture of relief, vulnerability and pride that our adult students have shared for more than 20 years,” Senter said. For more information on the Concord Community Music School, contact Nina Coldwell at 228-1196, ext. 10.