CMS News

Allentown, PA (May 24, 2023) – Each spring, CMS faculty recommend their highest performing students at all levels for an audition before an independent panel of judges. The three judges evaluate each student’s musical performance and determine a total audition score...

May 8,  2023  Dear Friends of CMS, As you may have heard, Community Music School is thriving this school year. Since we reopened our building for in-person music lessons and ensembles, we have more than doubled our student enrollment, from 159 to 337. Our base of...

We are pleased to welcome Lynda Chen to the CMS piano faculty.  Lynda is an accomplished pianist, specializing in collaborative piano, solo work, orchestras, and various ensembles. She holds a B.M. Piano Performance and a M.M. Collaborative Piano from Ithaca College....

Four CMS students who enrolled in our pop-up Music and Film class had their short films accepted into the inaugural Allentown Film Festival, which was held April 13-16, 2023.  Under the direction of our resident sound engineer, Joe Wagner, these students learned the...

What's Happening at CMS this Spring? Check out video highlights from the Faculty-Student Recital in our April e-newsletter and save the date for all our upcoming spring recitals and new summer camps!   In This Issue- Faculty-Student Recital Highlights- Summer...

CMS drum teacher Daniel Gonzalez (at far left) has been selected to perform with his band at the 2023 NAMM Show, “Bringing the Future Into Focus.” The show runs from April 13–15, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. Founded in 1901, NAMM (National...

CMS piano teacher, Griffin Woodard, will perform and record with his jazz quartet at the Deer Head Inn on Sunday, April 2 from 5-7:30 p.m.  In addition to Griffin Woodard on bass clarinet, the group features Cameron Campbell on piano, Miles Gilbert on bass, and Hugh...

Felicity Lui, flute student of Elaine Martin, advanced three chairs in her Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) District 10 Band reaudition and was accepted into Region V Band.  Felicity is a sophomore at Parkland High School.  The Region V Band festival...

We had a marvelous morning sharing the joy of music (and all our new summer camps) with families at the Parkland Community Resource Fair on Saturday, March 18, at Parkland High School.  We thank all our talented students, parents, and board members who volunteered for...

We are pleased to welcome Chris Klump to the CMS string and brass faculty.  Chris holds a B.A. in Music from Moravian University.  He is an experienced brass and folk musician on guitar and trumpet, arranger, conductor, and music educator with all levels of learners. ...

CMS brass teacher Nick Conti is the director and music director of the Mustard & Cheese Drama Society’s production of “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” at Lehigh University’s Fowler Black Box Theatre (in the Zoellner Arts Center) on March 23, 24,...

CMS car magnets are back!  These heavy-duty magnets are designed for indoor or outdoor use.  Show off your CMS pride and get yours today!  Magnets are available in the front office during normal lesson hours for a suggested $5 cash donation.  You can also order one by...

We are pleased to share that several CMS students are participating in their schools’ musicals this spring: Maanya Gope is in 7th grade at Springhouse Middle School and studies voice with Julia Walsh and viola with Carolyn Gaul at CMS.  She will be playing ‘Pigtails’,...

CMS piano teacher Griffin Woodard made an appearance on WFMZ Channel 69 News for Music Monday on February 13, 2023.  Check out Griffin’s interview with Eve Russo and his performances of “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” by William M. Runyan and Thomas Chisholm and “As Time...

New events, classes, and workshops! Plus, new teachers and new board members! Don't miss all the fun things happening at CMS this month! Read more in our February E-Newsletter!

Community Music School - Lehigh Valley & Berks (CMS) is pleased to announce that Andrene Brown Nowell of Allentown and Michael S. Horvath, II of Upper Macungie Township were elected to the CMS Board of Directors by unanimous vote in January 2023.  Brown Nowell and...

On January 23, members of the Macungie Minstrelaires presented a $500 donation to CMS.  This generous gift resulted from the proceeds of the Minstrelaires’ show ‘Singing is Out of this World’, held at Macungie Middle School in October of 2022.  Pictured here receiving...

January 18, 2023 Justin Heimbecker, Executive Director Berks Arts info@berksarts.org  610-898-1930) Attention: Music faculty, band leaders, teachers and students! Jazz, America’s classical music, was born and still thrives in clubs and on front porches and other...

CMS student Melina Kremus was selected to participate in the PMEA Elementary Band & Orchestra Festival on January 13, 2023, at Parkland High School.  Melina is in 6th grade at Springhouse Middle School and was one of only four Springhouse music students chosen to...

CMS brass teacher Nick Conti is now co-directing the CMS Big Band, along with longtime CMS teacher and band director, Cliff Tracy.  Nick holds a M.M. in Bass Trombone Performance from Arizona State University and a B.A. in Bass Trombone Performance from West Chester...

As you celebrate the holidays, we hope you enjoy these sounds of the season featuring some of our very talented CMS students. 

December continues to be an exciting month at Community Music School! Check out all the happenings in our monthly e-newsletter here. 

A team from the Muhlenberg College School of Continuing Studies Bachelor’s of Business Administration accelerated program worked with CMS for their final Multidisciplinary Capstone Project.  Leveraging their knowledge from the previous modules of the 22-month program,...

CMS is pleased to announce that Laura M. Attieh of Lower Nazareth Township was elected to the CMS Board of Directors by unanimous vote on December 14, 2022.  Attieh will serve a three-year term with the 40-year-old Allentown nonprofit that provides the access and...

We congratulate the CMS students who have been selected to the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) District 10 Band and Orchestra: District 10 Orchestra 2022-2023 Shriya Chitta, Violin (Southern Lehigh High School), student of Linda Kistler Rachele...

Tuesday, November 29 is GivingTuesday, a global day of giving.  In 1981, Martha Maletz and the other founders of Community Music School set out to provide equitable access to high-quality music education, especially for urban youth in Allentown. Today, at CMS, all...

CMS teacher Griffin Woodard’s album, Completion, is currently ranked #2 on the Roots Music Report Chart.  Griffin teaches piano, clarinet, bass clarinet, and composition here at CMS.  The modern jazz album was released on October 14, 2022 under the Griffin Woodard...

Dear CMS Friends: As we head into the busy holiday season, I feel very grateful. I am grateful for Martha Maletz and our other founders; 40 years ago, she envisioned the jewel that Community Music School has become. I am grateful for our dedicated Board volunteers,...

Penn State Lehigh Valley recently welcomed CMS teacher and Program Coordinator Kelly Hooper as a guest lecturer in its Art of Mathematics course, held in the Markowitz music room. Offered for the first time this fall, Art of Mathematics is the creation of Larry...

Dear Friends, The 40th “back-to-school” season at CMS has been a very busy one!  In September, we welcomed 38 new students for individual lessons, relaunched our performance ensembles, and expanded our group classes. Our Kids Choir is already full, but we are still...

Music inspires… and transforms!   Under the guidance of resident sound engineer Joe Wagner, the "Intro to Recording Class - Fall 2022" students at Community Music School wrote and produced the music track for a new television commercial to promote CMS.  The students...

Community Music School’s Health and Safety Plan was developed in accordance with the latest CDC guidelines and PA State Health Department recommendations. The Plan has been approved by the Health and Safety Committee of the CMS Board of Directors and may be revised as...

Community Music School - Lehigh Valley & Berks (CMS) is pleased to announce that Michael Yeager of Allentown was elected  President of the Board of Directors at the nonprofit's board  meeting on September 12, 2022.  Yeager assumes the role previously held by...

Laura Burcaw (above, left) has been promoted to Operations Manager.  Laura joined CMS in 2017 as an administrative associate.  For the last three years, she has served as our Program and Development Coordinator and was responsible for coordinating student scheduling...

The second and final week of the City Arts Camp for Allentown middle school students wrapped up with a performance for family and friends at CMS on Friday afternoon.  Campers presented their week’s artistic creations, several musical selections, a theatrical skit, and...

New this summer, CMS has partnered with the Lehigh Valley Arts & Cultural Alliance and the Fine Feather Foundation to provide music instruction in violin, guitar, piano, and recording technology to Allentown students who are new to CMS. The students come to the...

Dear CMS Friends: Happy Summer!  Here at Community Music School, we’ve had a busy spring and summer as we continue to celebrate 40 years of excellence in music education at CMS.  We enjoyed seeing many of you in person at our 40th Anniversary Spring Brunch &...

After a two-year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic, we are excited to announce new summer camp programs at CMS for 2022!   Learn more below and sign up today!August 1-5 Ages 7-11+No experience needed! Sign UpJuly 25 & August 22  Current CMS studentsAll AgesSign Up2...

We wish all our high school graduates success and happiness as they head off to college and future careers. Even if these students do not pursue music as a career, we hope that music will continue to be an important part of their lives. Some seniors, such as Fyodor...

CMS recently hired several new teachers to help meet the increased demand for in-person music lessons.  They join our experienced faculty of 20+ professional performing musicians with a passion for teaching music to students of all ages and abilities.   Anthony Sharp,...

In honor of our “ruby” anniversary, CMS is offering a limited run of 40th Anniversary mugs, pens, and bookmarks.  The items are available in the front office, by donation (cash or check) or by credit card here.  Mugs $10 each Pens $2 each Bookmarks $2 each Shipping of...

We applaud all of our students who prepared and participated in this year’s Gala Auditions.  After a two-year hiatus during the Covid pandemic, it was wonderful to have so many students participate in the auditions, in-person!  On May 14, three independent judges...

We congratulate all our students and their teachers who prepared for and participated in our Certificate of Musical Achievement in Piano Program.  This is a wonderful opportunity for CMS students to receive written comments on their performances and to note their...

On Saturday, April 30, CMS student Sean Riedy won the “Outstanding Accompanist” award in the Music in the Parks at Hershey competition for his accompaniment work with the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts Touring Choir.  He played the piano accompaniment...

The hills are alive with the sound of music!  CMS student Abby Dodd has been cast as Gretl, the youngest of the Von Trapp children, in DeSales University's Act 1 production of The Sound of Music.  Abby is 10 years old and has studied violin with Linda Kistler here at...

Dear Friends of CMS, We are excited to have welcomed so many new students to CMS over the last few months! As we celebrate 40 years of excellence in music education at CMS, in-person and online private students continue to increase, Kindermusik has expanded to two...

We congratulate our music therapy community partner, Music Therapy Associates, LLC (MTA) on receiving an official certificate of occupancy at their new space!  The “Therapeutic Arts Group” Building is at 1624 Schadt Avenue in Whitehall.  MTA uses music and art therapy...

As a nonprofit founded by five women leaders (#cmslv40), CMS was excited to welcome the women of CREW Lehigh Valley to the School on Monday, March 7, for CREW’s Cocktails and Conversations networking event.  The group enjoyed heavy d'oeuvres and cocktails prepared by...

On January 25, CMS Executive Director Jeff Reed (bottom, left) participated in a virtual discussion with The Presser Foundation regarding its Assistance to Music Teachers program.  As the Foundation seeks to center racial equity in its practices and efforts, the...

We congratulate the CMS students who have been selected to the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) District 10 Band and Orchestra: District 10 Orchestra 2021-2022  Rachele Grigoli, Violin (Parkland High School), student of Linda Kistler Shriya Chitta,...

Longtime CMS student Joshua Kim presented his senior recital at the Tell School of Music at Millersville University on January 22, with a live stream on YouTube. Josh, a music education major, presented a challenging program that included the works of Decruck,...

CMS guitar and recording teacher Joe Wagner returned to his hometown of Shamokin, PA for the third year to perform the “Joe Wagner Trio Christmas Spectacular” at the Ale House Bar & Grill on Saturday, December 17.   Joe was joined by seasoned musicians and...

CMS student Melody Herrera has been selected as the student representative to the Board of Directors of the William Allen Arts Alliance, a non-profit organization that supports and promotes the arts at William Allen High School. She joins several arts community...

If you missed the Service Electric TV-2 broadcast of our Summer 2021 Musikfest performance, you can now watch it anytime on the CMS YouTube channel here. We thank our friends at ArtsQuest for making this footage available.   Watch our Musikfest performance from SECTV2

We are pleased to welcome Pam Adamson (left) and Jasmine Adamson (right) to the CMS administrative team!  Pam and Jas will be job-sharing the Administrative Associate role at the front desk in the afternoon and evening hours, and on Saturday mornings. Pam brings a...

We are pleased to announce that Community Music School has selected Sean Riedy, piano student of Dr. David Saturen, as the first recipient of the Martha Maletz Scholarship.  The Scholarship honors the School's founder, Martha Maletz, who provided for a scholarship in...

BETHLEHEM, PA – Fourteen months after it debuted during a summer of protests and a pandemic, a socially distanced collaboration of dozens of musicians from across the Lehigh Valley is going for a regional Emmy award.  The Lehigh Valley Song Project’s music video, from...

Alexis Gabay-Ratner, voice student of Julia Walsh, sang the national anthem at the Lehigh County Democratic Committee’s "Demmy Awards" event at the American Club Pavilion in Coplay, PA on Monday 8/30/21. Great job, Alexis!  Watch her performance here.  Note: CMS is...

On March 13, 2020, when the Governor mandated that all K-12 schools close for two weeks to curb the spread of Covid-19, CMS immediately pivoted to online lessons and activated our contingency operating plan.  For the past 16 months, our students and faculty have...

Dear CMS Friends: In our 2020 – 2021 year, Community Music School faced significant challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic, but as you will learn in this newsletter, we still had a very successful year. We pivoted to online programming to stay safe and connected. Most...

During her senior year of high school, Mary Pulanco enrolled in clarinet lessons at CMS to prepare for college.  Now an elementary music teacher herself, she recently returned to CMS to continue her clarinet studies with John Schwartz.  According to John, “(Mary) is a...

The CARES Act continues to encourage charitable giving in 2021 with the ability to deduct up to $300 ($600 for a married couple), even if you do not itemize deductions on your tax return and take the standard deduction.  All gifts are fully tax-deductible. ...

CMS, with our arts partners at the Allentown Art Museum, Allentown Symphony Association, Baum School of Art, Civic Theatre, and Repertory Dance Theatre, is hosting four week-long, socially distanced sessions of the City Arts Camp through July.  This camp is free to 6,...

A solid foundation in music theory is one of the key components of a quality music education that our teachers provide here at CMS.  This deeper understanding helps our students not only master their instruments but also take their musical journey to the next level,...

Allentown, PA (July 13, 2021) – Community Music School Lehigh Valley & Berks (CMS) is one of thirty-five Greater Philadelphia Area music organizations to receive nearly $2 million in recent capital support grants from The Presser Foundation. CMS and other music...

Allentown, PA (June 28, 2021) – Community Music School (CMS) Lehigh Valley & Berks is pleased to announce the election of three new community leaders to its Board of Directors:  Safa Ashrafi, associate attorney with Gross McGinley, LLP; Gregory Kuhn, CEO of Omega...

CMS congratulates flute student Sabrina Collings on her recent graduation from Parkland High School.  Sabrina started playing flute in 4th grade because she thought it would be fun.  She studied with Elaine Martin here at CMS for six years and was also a member of our...

Community Music School thanks The Harry C. Trexler Trust for their continued financial support.  CMS was awarded $50,000, to underwrite operating expenses related to services and programs for Lehigh County residents. Read the full Morning Call article.

Allen Organ President Steven Markowitz displays the MOS board of 22 custom, integrated circuits. In 1971, it was the most sophisticated computer board in any product in the world.   Allen Organ Company, LLC in Macungie is celebrating 85 years in business in the...

Nicholas Brogle, clarinet student of John Schwartz, was accepted to participate in The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) All-East Band. Nicholas is a junior at Saucon Valley High School. To qualify to audition for this prestigious ensemble, students...

Thank you to everyone who tuned in for the Virtual Brunch Watch Party on Sunday, April 25, 2021.  If you missed the premiere, you can now watch this free program anytime on our YouTube channel.  The 1.5-hour presentation features musical performances by CMS faculty...

A Full Year of Online Lessons at CMS What a year! Today, Tuesday, March 16, marks exactly one year since we started online lessons at CMS. We applaud all our students who have embraced virtual lessons and continued their musical progress during these challenging...

Community Music School congratulates Board of Directors President, Carmen Flosdorf, on being selected as a "Woman of Influence" by Lehigh Valley Business.  Carmen is Vice President, Commercial Lending Officer, Peoples Security Bank & Trust Company.  She has served...

In September 2020, the CMS Strategic Direction Task Force reconvened to develop a recommendation to the Board of Directors on defined strategic objectives for Community Music School, which, in turn, will determine priorities and funding needs for the upcoming calendar...

2020 was expected to be a break-out year for CMS, with a growing number of students, group classes, outreach programs, volunteer projects, and events. We thank everyone who helped to keep the music alive at CMS in 2020!

Former CMS student and 2020 William Allen High School graduate, Sammi Ciommo, designed and installed the native plant garden at CMS. Sammi created the garden in 2019 as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award Project.

CMS teacher Clifford Tracy was a contributing artist to “Keep the Funk Alive,” an 8-month musical collaboration with Grammy award-winning French jazz instrumentalist and composer, Philippe Saisse.

In December 2020, former student of CMS teacher Dail Richie, Toni Marie Palmertree, along with Kathleen Kelly, Laura LeVoir, and Ellen Rissinger recorded “A World of Song: Colorful Thoughts” in the Dorothy H. Baker Recital Hall at CMS, as part of the Cincinnati Song...

Allentown, PA (December 2, 2020) – Community Music School (CMS) Lehigh Valley & Berks is pleased to announce the addition of Jonathan Leeds of Allentown to its woodwind faculty.  Mr. Leeds specializes in teaching private lessons in clarinet and bass clarinet. Mr....

This past Saturday, CMS students of all ages, many wearing Halloween costumes, performed a variety of classical and contemporary music in our virtual Monster Concert.  If you missed the live premiere, you can watch the full performance here: 2020 Monster Concert We...

We commend CMS student Ceiran Magee for being selected by the Schadt String Scholarship Judging Panel of the Allentown Symphony. Ceiran will receive a scholarship towards the cost of continuing his music education this school year at CMS. Ceiran is a piano student of...

Published October 30. 2020 10:57PMBYBY KATHY LAUER-WILLIAMS SPECIAL TO THE PRESS When the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shutdown began in March, Community Music School of the Lehigh Valley (CMS) could no longer offer in-person music lessons in its facility at 1544...

Earlier this summer, we asked our students to submit imprint designs for a new series of CMS T-shirts, tote bags, and other items. Congratulations to Savannah Callahan, cello student of Chase Morrison, for designing the winning entry! Even during this time apart, our...