Private Lessons

Piano Masterclass

A student participates in a master class with Chicago Pianist Amy Dissanayake.

Photo: Daniel Collins

Private instruction on virtually any musical instrument and on voice is readily available in the Hyde Park community.  Lessons are given by members of the performance faculty and staff, by advanced graduate students in the Music Department, or by free-lance musicians who live in the neighborhood.  In addition, Chicago students often choose to study with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera Orchestra, or faculty members at music schools elsewhere in the area.

The ensemble directors are happy to provide interested students with recommendations for appropriate private teachers.  Students who are interested in private music lessons should indicate that interest at their ensemble auditions.  The Music Department main office also maintains a list of qualified instructors in the neighborhood.

To encourage such advanced musical study, the Music Department offers Visiting Committee Music Lesson Stipends to help defray the cost of private lessons.  Such stipends may be used to pay up to 60% of the cost of lessons, and are awarded on the basis of competitive auditions held in the middle of autumn quarter.  More information on the 2009 stipend auditions is available in the Music Department Main Office.

Master Classes

Meaningful instructional opportunities are provided through the ensemble coaching program (which involves coaches from the Pacifica Quartet, eighth blackbird, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra) and through the series of Master Classes offered by the Music Department every year.  Piano master classes led by Chicago-area pianists or visiting artists are generally offered each quarter.  Master classes for stringed instruments, woodwinds, brass, jazz, or voice, are also often part of the schedule.  For information on upcoming master classes, please consult the quarterly calendar.