Workshop

New event for 2024-2025! Our performance classes give WCMS students and adult learners an opportunity to practice what it will be like to perform in a recital. There will be no audience, just the other participants in the class.
Each class is hosted by a WCMS faculty member who will offer encouragement and helpful tips. This class will help students develop a performance routine, checklists, and a narrative to encourage successful performances in their future.
Sign Up Online

New event for 2024-2025! Our performance classes give WCMS students and adult learners an opportunity to practice what it will be like to perform in a recital. There will be no audience, just the other participants in the class.
Each class is hosted by a WCMS faculty member who will offer encouragement and helpful tips. This class will help students develop a performance routine, checklists, and a narrative to encourage successful performances in their future.
Sign Up Online

This remote info session is perfect for parents and caregivers of children currently enrolled in a Dalcroze Eurhythmics or early childhood music class at WCMS.
Department chair Eiko Ishizuka and faculty member Adriana Ausch-Simmel will cover:

An overview of early childhood class offerings at WCMS
Guidance for supporting your children's musical development, both in class and at home
Suggestions for fostering healthy practice habits
Guidance about the decision to begin private lessons
Time for Q&A

This session is free, but advance sign-up is required. A Zoom link will be provided to all

Right Hand Mechanics: Guitar Clinic with Hayes Griffin
This 90-minute workshop is for any guitarist who wants to gain better control and fluency in flat-pick playing. Guest clinician Hayes Griffin will help participants to:
• Better control your picking hand
• Gain control when playing awkward string skips
• Gain fluidity at a variety of tempos
• Build techniques for better tone
• Learn how to practice to affirm good picking technique
Open to intermediate and advanced guitar players ages 13+. Please bring your guitar and a flat pick!
Free for WCMS students; $15 for the general public

This 90-minute workshop is for any musician who wants to explore songwriting for the first time or expand on their existing songwriting skills. Award-winning singer-songwriter Rachel Sumner will offer participants a look into her own creative process: where she finds inspiration, how she transforms a creative spark into a song, and more. Participants will also learn specific strategies for editing, deep listening, and using familiar songs as jumping-off points for their own original compositions.
Learn more about Rachel Sumner!
Open to ages 14 and up. Free for WCMS students; $15 for the

Registration Deadline: January 13, 2025
This workshop is for students in grades 6-9 trying out for the MMEA Junior District Festival. The workshop will provide a wealth of information about the audition process including how to prepare, manage nerves, and develop presentation skills. Students will divide into vocal and instrument groups to perform for adjudicators and receive constructive feedback on their solos and scales.
Open to all singers and instrumentalists; you do not have to be a WCMS student to participate.
$30 per participant; register by January 13
Register Online

Discover the innovative world of the Steinway Spirio!
Join Patrick Elisha-Sanmiguel for an engaging presentation on piano mechanics and technology, highlighting the advanced features of the new Spirio player piano. Following an overview of the Spirio's mechanics, participants will have the option to try it out for themselves.
Please note that this workshop takes place off-site at the Newton showroom of M. Steinert & Sons.

Children ages 11+ are welcome to participate if accompanied by an adult
Participants are responsible for their own transportation to and from the workshop location (1069

Do you dream of improving your sight-reading skills? Do you want to feel stronger and more confident at your auditions? Do you want to go to your rehearsals and be able to play new music on your stand better on the first try? Then this class is for you!
In this 90-minute power session, WCMS teaching artist Jeanne Snodgrass (trumpet) will work with students on multiple sight-reading techniques. You will practice sight-reading patterns without instruments, as well as work on reading examples similar to those you might encounter in a live audition with your instruments.
All woodwind & brass

Evaluation Dates:

Saturday, April 5, 1:00 - 6:00 PM
Sunday, April 6, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

WCMS Piano Evaluations are a springtime performance opportunity for dedicated students of WCMS faculty. They are designed to encourage growth and artistic expression for students of all ages. Evaluations are open to students of WCMS teachers, and your private teacher must recommend participation.
How do they work?
Students prepare a program to perform for a panel of two adjudicators and receive detailed, constructive written feedback. Each student's teacher determines the repertoire and scale

Evaluation Dates:

Saturday, April 5, 1:00 - 6:00 PM
Sunday, April 6, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

WCMS Piano Evaluations are a springtime performance opportunity for dedicated students of WCMS faculty. They are designed to encourage growth and artistic expression for students of all ages. Evaluations are open to students of WCMS teachers, and your private teacher must recommend participation.
How do they work?
Students prepare a program to perform for a panel of two adjudicators and receive detailed, constructive written feedback. Each student's teacher determines the repertoire and scale