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UNC music program offers classes to locals

Grace Baranek plays a key in an introductory piano class on Tuesday night in Kenan Music Building as a part of UNC's expanded number of community music courses.
Grace Baranek plays a key in an introductory piano class on Tuesday night in Kenan Music Building as a part of UNC's expanded number of community music courses.

Derison Duarte’s love of music started a long way from Chapel Hill.

“I grew up in St. Louis,” he said. “There was a very prominent community music school in the city that was instrumental in my development as a pianist.”

Duarte, a lecturer in the music department, said his childhood experience inspired him to start the UNC Community Music School this year.

The school is a program that offers music instruction to the community at large four days a week in the Kenan Music Building .

It hosts a variety of music classes — everything from guitar lessons to music composition — to everyone over age six.

Students pay a fee, which ranges from about $200 to $400, to take the classes, and that tuition funds the entire program.

The Community Music School consists of about six instructors for group classes — some are UNC faculty and others teach music within the community. There are also instructors available for private lessons.

Duarte said the idea had been discussed in the music department for two years but did not pick up momentum until this past year.

He said that the school is still in its primary stages.

“We changed the times of some of the classes around this semester, we’ll see what works for next year,” Duarte said.

Although the music classes are not part of the UNC curriculum, freshman music major Alina Gabitov said she worked with children’s choirs during high school.

“I think it’s a really good idea to have music for kids,” she said.

Gabitov said music is an outlet that many people have.

“A lot of people listen to it, but being able to sing or play just adds another level to it,” she said.

Freshman Marissa Treible is taking the adult group piano class offered by the Community Music School. She said she likes the classes because they are nearby.

She said she grew up in a musical family but never learned how to play an instrument. Treible thought the piano was a good place to start building a musical foundation.

“I’m really excited because I’ve been wanting to take piano but I couldn’t last semester because of scheduling,” Treible said.

UNC faculty member Jean Cadigan is also a student in the adult piano class.

She said the classes are convenient because she works on campus, and she can attend on her way home after work. She took the classes because she wanted to get back into playing music, Cadigan said.

“I played the flute as an adolescent and wanted to bring music back into my life,” she said.

Duarte said a reason he wanted to create the Community Music School was because there was not a University-sponsored year-round school for musical instruction.

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“The best friendships I had as a child and teen were formed through the school (in St. Louis).”

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