The People's Music School

Happy Birthday, Rita! 🎶 🎁 On this day, we honor the memory and legacy of our late founder, Dr. Rita Simó. In 1976, Rita founded The People's Music School, driven by a vision to share the gift of free music education—one she herself received growing up in the Dominican Republic—with the young people of Chicago. As a musician, educator, and tireless advocate for access, her impact continues to be felt throughout our city and far beyond it.

Share this post to celebrate our founder's birthday, and leave a comment with your memory of Rita! 🎼

Our students and families recently enjoyed concerts at Ravinia Festival! The programs featured captivating performances by María Dueñas · violinist Emanuel Ax, and Marin Alsop with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra 🎶 Thank you to Ravinia Reach Teach Play for providing our students & families with this opportunity! 🎼 🎻

📸 The Reznikova Family, The Misurac Family, and the Rauch Family

💡 Did you know? You can give your old instrument a new home at The People's Music School! Learn more about the kind of instruments we accept and donation guidelines. ❤️ 🎻 🎺

👉 Share this post to help provide more instruments for our students!

🤔 What exactly goes into learning music at The People's Music School?

Our curriculum is built around four instructional pillars: lessons, music theory, ensembles, and performance. Every week, students receive an average of four hours of high-quality music instruction led by professional teaching artists. Through music, they develop a foundation of responsibility, self-esteem, resilience and purpose.

That's the power of music education. 🎼 ❤️

➡️ See how you can sign your child up for 100% tuition-free music education at peoplesmusicschool.org!

Join The People's Music School team! Check out our open positions at https://peoplesmusicschool.org/get-involved/employment/.

📣 Are you a music educator with a passion for phenomenal teaching? Are you a firm believer in the power of music to transform lives? Work at The People’s Music School - we're ! Check out our open positions at peoplesmusicschool.org/employment.

🎹 Highlights from our Summer Piano Intensive with guest artist Hana Fujisaki Art/Music !

Our piano students spent the day learning from piano teaching artists, working hard in focused practice sessions, and enjoying an engaging performance from Chicago-based keyboardist, composer, and music educator Hana Fujisaki. Students had the chance to ask Hana questions about her career as a musician, her favorite part of performing, and her tips for practicing.

Thank you to Hana and to our piano faculty for such a fun and fulfilling day of music! 🎶