The Community Music School at Southwestern College has set a fall schedule of workshops and classes aimed at all ages from kindergarten through adult. Anyone who has wanted to write music will have a place in the composition workshops, and group piano lessons will allow children and youth to explore their interest in learning to play.

• The composition workshop will be led by Chris Schmitz, director of SC’s Center for Music Composition on Saturday, Sept. 24, from 9 a.m. to noon, and will be held in the Darbeth Fine Arts Center room 207.  All supplies will be provided and participants are encouraged to bring any music they have been working on.  The workshop is for ages high school to adult and costs $5 for CMS students and $35 for non-CMS students. $10 of the workshop fee can be applied toward registration fee if the participant also signs up for one-on-one composition lessons. Schmitz will teach by appointment. 

• The piano exploration workshop will be a chance for beginning students to have a high-energy first piano lesson in a group with other beginners.  The workshop will be on Saturday, Sept. 24, 10-11:30 a.m., in the Darbeth Fine Arts Center piano lab.  The workshop was originally set for 2nd-5th graders, but due to high demand, a separate workshop will be open to kindergartners and first graders on the same morning.  Fees are $5 for CMS students and $20 for non-CMS students.  $10 of the workshop fee can be applied toward registration fee if the participant also signs up to take the beginning piano class.

Private composition lessons and beginning piano lessons will begin on Sept. 26.  Student compositions will be performed at the composition recital on Friday, Nov. 18, at 7:30 p.m. in Messenger Recital Hall in the Darbeth Fine Arts Center.

Piano lessons will be every Monday through Nov. 21 (no class Oct. 17).  Families are invited to attend the final session to observe student progress and participate in closing festivities. 

For more information or to enroll, go to www.sckans.edu/cms or call Hannah Northerns, administrator for the Community Music School, at (620) 229-6188.