Musicians in the Making, an early childhood music program, is celebrating its 15th year of bringing top-quality music to West Windsor and Plainsboro. In 1993 Linda Fields acted on her vision of filling a piano studio with classes for younger children. Children from ages two to six enjoy singing, playing, listening, and dancing, while building a strong foundation for instrumental study. Fields also teaches private piano lessons in her home, along with a monthly class for all piano students in the studio.##M:[more]##
“The years since 1993 have been a wonderful journey,” says founder and director, Fields, a longtime West Windsor resident. “We have seen children come to us as toddlers, barely matching pitch, and over the years they have developed into competent pianists, earning blue ribbons in piano festivals — true musicians in the making!”
Fields, who has her master’s degree in piano from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, and, with level III certification in early childhood music and movement, believes she may be the highest ECMMA certified teacher in New Jersey.
She later added curriculum by Musikgarten to give a new dimension to the early childhood music classes. “The program is unparalleled in how it trains the body and the ear, leading solidly to music literacy at the appropriate age,” Fields says. “In addition, its emphasis on the world of nature and on family music-making resonates perfectly with our goals of wholesome, environmentally-focused activities.”
Initially at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, the early childhood music classes eventually met at Windsor Chapel from 1994 to 2000. In 2000 it was time to move the piano students from Fields’ home to a new location in West Windsor. Alison Lont (since married and settled in Virginia) came on-board, kicking off a highly structured program for piano study. The following year the growing studio moved to East Windsor, offering both early childhood music and a piano class and lesson combination in one place.
Two years later Musicians in the Making settled into its current Plainsboro location, the Office Center (behind Princeton Meadows Shopping Center).
Fields also offers free family music parties several times a year to provide a music-making opportunity geared to children age six and under and their families. “This is something that is rare our current culture, and yet it is one of the most significant and healthy ways parents can impact their children’s lives,” says Fields.
Says Fields: “The most important component for musical development is the home environment. How interested and involved the parents are bears directly on the interest and involvement of the child, from infancy all the way through formal instrumental study.”
“When children have a repertoire of very familiar songs that have been explored and experienced in many ways from infancy, by age seven, most children are ready to transfer from pitched and unpitched rhythm instruments to the piano,” says Fields. “Having experienced the essence of music from the very beginning, these students show an innate sense of artistry, and confidence in projecting musical ideas.
Roy Bhame, a rising sophomore at High School South, attended classes taught by Linda Fields when he was younger. He spent his middle school years at American Boy Choir and is still active with the alumni chorus at the school. They recently recorded a few pieces of American music for a new CD being released this fall. He will be singing in the concert choir at South and hopes to be in musical productions as well.
Both he and his younger sister, Marlena, attended Field’s early childhood music classes for several years. “Roy constantly would sing the little songs he learned in the class and Linda chose him to be a leader of some echo singing they did,” says his mother, Karen Bhame.
“Roy has been singing with accuracy since he was 18 months old,” says his mother, (The News, February 18, 2005). “He would learn songs instantly and if I put on any kind of beautiful vocal music including opera, Roy would stop what he was doing and stare into space and listen. I knew he was processing complex music at an early age.”
“The classes were delightful in every way and the variety of the music and activities always kept them interested,” she says. “She (Fields) had introductory parent classes where we sampled the recordings and activities and she had a lending library of music-related stories that was freely available.”
“I remember that Marlena couldn’t get enough of ‘The Magic Flute,’” Karen Bhame says. “The materials and homework were very professional and fun to do. The songbook had beautiful illustrations along with the musical scores.”
Marlena, now 12, enters seventh grade at Grover Middle School. A member of the Princeton Girlchoir for several years, she will join the concert choir and looks forward to her first tour next summer.
“While every child will enjoy music classes, I found Linda’s classes to be extremely helpful for Roy, who needed to be musically challenged,” says Bhame. “He was above the curve in singing from a very early age and the level of artistry of the recordings and class really fed his abilities and motivation to keep learning.”
“To prove how much the kids loved the program, they would ask me to play the cassette (Roy) and later the CDs (Marlena) for a long time after they graduated,” says Karen Bhame. “Hearing the music again brought back good memories for them.” — Lynn Miller
Open House, Musicians in the Making, 666 Plainsboro Road, Building 500, Suite 505, Plainsboro, 609-750-0600. www.musiciansinthemaking.com. Musikgarten demo classes hourly for ages birth to six years. Register online. Free. Wednesday, August 29, 10:30 a.m.
Information Meeting. For parents about the program. Open to the community. Registration requested. Saturday, September 8, 10 a.m.
