Music & Movement classes, taught by Heather Oberheim, Director of the Early Childhood Program at the Music School, get underway the week of September 22nd. With classes scheduled throughout the week, mornings and afternoons, for babies as young as 6-months and children as old as 7 years, there is a place for you and your children at the Music School this spring. The week of September 22nd, all Music & Movement classes will be offered free of charge, and registration materials will be available. For a schedule of classes and to register for classes in advance, call the Music School at 228-1196.

For children 6 months through 4 years Music & Movement offers parents, grandparents, and caregivers the opportunity to bond with their child or children through music. Ms. Oberheim uses lap bounces, dancing and finger plays while singing a collection of traditional childhood songs to support early learning experiences such as counting and rhyming. Songs and rhymes learned while in class each week can enrich family life at home. A class for siblings, “Swinging Siblings,” offers a music outlet for families with more than one small child between the ages of 6 months and 4years – a chance to explore music together.

Children ages 4-6 are invited to attend Music & Movement programs in classes that make strong connections between the songs, games, dances, and movement activities and the formalized language of music. Children begin to learn music terms, rhythm notation, and pre-reading skills as they sing, play, and move. For slightly older children, ages 5-7 years, “Music & Art” explores the connection between these two creative disciplines. Children will paint, draw and create instruments, as well as make music in response to the art around them. And new this fall, “Creative Dance,” a class for 3 1/2 – 5 year-olds, will invite children to take off their shoes and put on their dancing feet. Each class is designed to appeal to children at an appropriate developmental level while giving caregivers an opportunity to engage with or observe their children as they learn and move through music.

Located between Wall and Fayette Streets in downtown Concord, the Music School employs a faculty of 55 artist teachers who teach 1,400 students from more than 100 communities each week. With a mission “to foster a sense of community through music… for people of all ages, musical abilities, and backgrounds,” the Music School welcomes adults, teens, and children, emphasizing the importance of ensembles and performance as well as individual instruction. It also partners with more than 20 New Hampshire schools, human service agencies, retirement homes, and public housing communities to bring musical participation to people unable to travel to CCMS. Call the Music School for more information, 603-228-1196.