WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO

WHO ARE WE?
The City Music Center (CMC) at Duquesne University is a community music school where children, young people and adults from throughout the Western Pennsylvania area study music. Founded in 1989, CMC continues the great tradition of American community music schools that were founded on the premise that music education is a necessary and vital part of life and should be available to all. True to this mission, CMC accepts every student who wants to study music regardless of economic circumstances or ability.

CMC has a reputation in this community as the place to receive conservatory-level music training. Many of our students go on to university and conservatory programs; some win international competitions and several have performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as well as regional symphony orchestras. The majority of our students however, are typical kids who are at CMC because they want the best musical training.

WHAT DO WE DO?
CMC offers students a comprehensive conservatory program which consists of private instruction on most instruments, a core, graded musicianship curriculum, the opportunity to participate in ensembles and to perform in recitals throughout the year.

At CMC all of the faculty hold advanced degrees from national and international schools and conservatories. Many have appeared on concert stages here and abroad and some have written books or produced CDs. All students, from the youngest piano or violin student to the advanced player preparing for college, study with this professional faculty. With high expectations and well-defined goals, the faculty at CMC are devoted to the musical training of young people.

WHAT IS A COMPREHENSIVE MUSIC PROGRAM?
A comprehensive music education is not just a series of private lessons, nor is it a menu of interesting classes and activities. Rather, it is a well-planned sequence of learning which leads to clearly defined skills and knowledge. As in learning a language, the student must begin with the smallest elements and go on to understand how those elements make words, sentences, how to write a paragraph and at the most advanced level, how to “play” with words, how to create something new.

Students also need to know how music looked and sounded 500 years ago and how it might look 100 hence. Students need to know what instruments make up a symphony orchestra and how those instruments produce sound. Students should understand that music functions in the western world much differently than it does in Ghana or in Ceylon, and the sound of music in the 16th century French court was different than today’s concert hall.

A music student must master many skills in addition to his instrument. He must be able to identify and to write the pitch and rhythm, the intervals, scales and the chords that make musical sound. The student must be able to look at an unfamiliar piece of music and identify the key, the harmonic progressions, sing all parts of the score on sight, understand how the piece is structured and understand the difference between a rondo and sonata form.

It is our belief that a student’s very first understanding of musical sound should be based upon dynamic, physical and improvisational work. For this reason, the pre-school student begins musicianship studies with Dalcroze Eurhythmics.

Curriculum
Placement in the curriculum for incoming students is by recommendation of the Chair of the Musicianship Department.

Examples of how the comprehensive curriculum looks at various levels.

Pre-School 3 to 5 years

Primary Grades K-2 Core Program
Elementary Grades 3-4 Electives Core Program
Intermediate Grades 5-6 Electives Core Program
Middle School Grades 7-8 Electives Core Program
High School Grades 9–12 Electives


City Music Center
of Duquesne University
Mary Pappert School of Music

Pittsburgh, PA 15282-1800
(412) 396-5872
www.cmcpgh.org

Sally Worsing, Ph.D
Executive Director
stone@duq.edu

Roberta K. Erickson
Business Manager
ericksonr@duq.edu