About

Welcome to WCMS! We have music opportunities for all ages, from toddlers to teens and young adults to seniors. We offer private lessons as well as group classes, ensembles, and music therapy. 

WCMS is a nonprofit organization serving more than 850 students from over 30 towns, including Woburn, Stoneham, Lexington, Medford, Arlington, and Burlington. With over 30 years of excellence in music education, an exceptional faculty, and a state-of-the-art facility, we provide the finest professional instruction to our students, and a world of music to our community and beyond!

Our Mission
Our mission is to enrich the lives of individuals and the community by providing outstanding and varied music education programs available to all. Winchester Community Music School nurtures learning and the joy of music in a welcoming and diverse atmosphere.
Our Vision
Since 1981, Winchester Community Music School (WCMS) has developed a strong musical program and faculty, dedicated students, a beautiful facility, and a supportive community. Building on this strong foundation, the school has developed its vision of its future.
Our vision is to be a high-quality community music school serving a broad community base by offering a comprehensive music education program and enriching musical performances.
We envision that our music programs will continue to be anchored in the classical music genre, with an increasing emphasis in jazz. We will continue to provide quality private instruction tailored to the needs of individual students. In addition, we will maintain a fully developed early childhood music program based upon Dalcroze Eurhythmics. We will sustain classroom instruction to supplement students' music education, including a fully developed sequence of music theory classes. We will continue to encourage ensemble participation in small classical and jazz ensembles, both vocal and instrumental, and to provide multiple and varied performance opportunities as a critical element of music education.
In our future, we envision a broad program in continuing adult education that includes private instruction, ensembles, and music appreciation. We will expand our summer program to offer special opportunities for the broad community base we serve. Our program offerings will be further tailored to the interests of our community with respect to music types, breadth of instrument instruction, and performance opportunities.
Recognizing that all students have individual goals for their music education, we will continue to provide private instruction that is individually oriented, with a variety of options for evaluation. The individual student and instructor will choose the method of evaluation appropriate to the student's goal. Community outreach is one of our highest priorities, and our vision supports this objective. To this end, we will continue to provide high-quality faculty performances at our own facility and will increase travel to local venues with both student and faculty performers. We will look for opportunities to bring music education to those with travel restrictions, such as special needs groups and senior groups. We will also collaborate with other local arts groups to offer more comprehensive arts programs.
We will actively recruit the residents of Winchester and neighboring communities in order to provide and sustain those programs desired by our student population. Although we are an independent institution, we will continue to complement existing music education programs in the surrounding communities through our programs. Through offerings in multiple demographic categories, we will support a diverse student population, from toddlers to adults and the hobbyist to the pre-professional. We are also committed to ensuring that our programs remain accessible to all, including students in need of financial assistance.
We will support our vision by maintaining an excellent school in terms of instruction, quality of music programs, and infrastructure. Recognizing the critical importance of our faculty to the success of the school, we will work to retain our excellent teachers and recruit additional colleagues who meet our standards of excellence. Specifically, we will recruit additional teachers who are professional local musicians with demonstrated teaching skills and experience, and who have been trained by top professionals in their fields. We will continue to include noted artists from the Boston performing community in many capacities. Through their caring and enthusiastic attitude, our teachers will continue to encourage student commitment to music. We will support our faculty by providing a highly competitive compensation package, training opportunities, and a student population committed to music education.
We will provide sufficient classroom and large-room space to support a wide breadth of programs in both group/ensemble and individual instruction. We will provide high quality instruments and electronic equipment for teaching. We aspire to be an all-Steinway school. In our vision, WCMS will maintain a comprehensive music library/listening lab and state-of-the-art recording facilities and equipment.
Ensuring that these quality attributes are sustained, WCMS will maintain an organizational structure that supports both the administrative and programmatic needs of the institution.