News

Sentinel Builders LLC, a full-service general contracting and construction management firm with a strong portfolio of education, healthcare, corporate interiors, and retail projects, will celebrate the groundbreaking of a transformative project for the Music Conservatory of Westchester.   

The Conservatory building will open on Monday September 13^th for private lessons and group classes. We are watching the course of the Delta variant and we are committed to do everything feasible to help ensure the safety of our students, faculty, families and staff.

The joy of Broadway is back! The Music Conservatory of Westchester is bringing Broadway stars back to Westchester County on Monday, September 20 for its in-person 20th Annual Golf & Tennis Classic and Gala at Brae Burn Country Club in Purchase. The White Plains-based nonprofit community music school is celebrating twenty years of holding this annual fundraiser in a big way with a star-studded roster of Tony Award-celebrated honorees and performers.  

Congratulations to Aniketh Arvind, 15-year-old piano student of Dr. Mikhail Zeiger, for being one of the three winners of the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra Teen Talent Competition!

Congratulations to our 2021 high school graduates! We are so proud of these students and their achievements throughout their time at the Music Conservatory of Westchester. Many of our students continue their education in music and other exciting fields of study at renowned colleges and universities.

In recognition of our nation’s historically underrepresented African American composers, on Saturday, June 19, 2021 at 7pm, the Music Conservatory of Westchester will present a Juneteenth Celebration including musical performances by the music school’s faculty and an opportunity to learn more about the featured composers. The concert will be presented with limited in-person seating in the Conservatory’s Recital Hall as well as streamed live online for the greater public to enjoy.

Rowan Pedraza, 15-year-old Music Conservatory of Westchester piano student of Dr. Mikhail Zeiger since 2017, knows his way around the 88 keys. He plays classical, romantic, jazz, ragtime, and other musical styles on piano. In April 2021, Rowan’s exquisite performances of pieces by Beethoven, Brahms, Liebermann, and Ravel in the Sixth Annual J.Y Park Piano Competition, Senior Division, won a First Place grand prize of $1,000.

Congratulations to Music Conservatory of Westchester piano student Kylee Zhang for winning first place for the Open Category in the 2021 New York Open Music Festival competition! A Conservatory student since 2017, 9-year-old Kylee also placed second in the Educational Composers Category in the competition.

It’s March Madness for musicians! Ever dreamed of being a drummer in a band? That dream can be a reality. The Music Conservatory of Westchester is raffling off a like-new 5-piece Pearl Vision drum set complete with hardware and Paiste cymbals as well as a free trial lesson online or in-person with Conservatory drum instructor Jake Robinson! The drum set is generously donated by Betty and Mitchell Troyetsky. 

Music Conservatory of Westchester music therapist Donald Stevens proves the power of positivity in his latest music video for his original song “You Can Change the World.” The upbeat anthem was inspired by a chance meeting on a NYC subway platform with Date While You Wait creator Thomas Knox. As it turns out, Knox’s initiative is not about romantic dating at all.

A HUGE Thank You to our entire Conservatory community including students, faculty, MCW families, Parent Association Committee, Board, staff, and friends for helping make Performathon 2020 possible!

Metropolitan Opera Soprano and MCW Prep Vocal Performance faculty Korliss Uecker’s beginnings with the Internationally-renowned New York City opera company is a lesson in preparedness.

At the Music Conservatory of Westchester, students learn much more than how to play music; our nonprofit music school also teaches the importance of community. On Saturday, December 12, we will hold our annual Performathon fundraiser, featuring virtual student performances to help support our Scholarship Program.

An alumna of the Music Conservatory of Westchester and an original member of the school’s chamber orchestra, Casey Kearney has since performed with the Chicago Symphony and San Francisco Symphony. She returns to the Conservatory starting this fall to teach oboe lessons to students of all ages. Douglas Bish, the Conservatory’s Dean of Students and Faculty, who formerly conducted the chamber orchestra, was thrilled to welcome her to the Conservatory faculty.

The Conservatory building will open on Monday September 14^th for a limited number of private lessons. We are committed to do everything feasible to help ensure the health and safety of our students, faculty, families and staff.

When Broadway stars support music education, they do it in a big way. On Wednesday, September 23, 2020, the Music Conservatory of Westchester will present its 19^th Annual Gala virtually, and it will be nothing short of spectacular.

Music Conservatory of Westchester (MCW) is preparing talented high school music students for college studies and future careers in music, in its MCW Prep Program launched in September, 2019. On Monday, August 17, 2020 at 6pm, the esteemed faculty of the Conservatory’s MCW Prep program will speak in a roundtable discussion and will be answering questions from prospective students and their parents. The conversation and Q&A will be recorded and shared on the Music Conservatory’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

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In solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, the Music Conservatory of Westchester will present a virtual faculty concert featuring music by Black composers on Wednesday, July 15 at 12pm on Facebook and YouTube.

“This concert will be a first step in highlighting the work of under-recognized composers and introducing our community to new musical treasures that will broaden their horizons,” says Conservatory Executive Director Jean Newton. “Over time, we aim to influence, through our music education programs, public perceptions of the wealth and diversity of great music.”

Summer is better with music! This summer, the Music Conservatory of Westchester is offering kids grades K-7 a new, online experience with fun, interactive classes to spark their interest in the visual and performing arts!

From the safety and comfort of their own homes, kids can experiment with music, learn to play instruments, write songs, create art, sing, dance, and perform musical theatre scenes and songs with the Conservatory’s expert, world-class faculty.

Our talented Suzuki students will perform in a special virtual concert on Saturday, May 30 starting at 1pm. In solo performances, Suzuki students will play pieces on cello, piano, violin, and viola in video recordings from their homes.

(White Plains, NY) While everyone is social distancing, music is more important than ever to bring hope, calm, and joy to our community. The Music Conservatory of Westchester will present Keep the Music Playing: A Virtual Concert for the Community to be streamed online on Friday, May 8 at noon.

While everyone is social distancing, music is more important than ever to bring hope, calm, and joy to our community.

The Music Conservatory of Westchester is planning a Virtual Concert for the Community featuring our students, faculty, and friends of the Conservatory to be streamed online publicly on Friday, May 8 at noon. This concert is a community-building event to share the joy of music with the public from their homes. We would love for our entire Conservatory community to be a part of the virtual concert. Think of it as Performathon from your living room on video!

Our goal is to keep the music playing! Social distancing can’t keep musicians from making and sharing music – even from afar.

The Music Conservatory of Westchester is continuing everybody’s music study via virtual lessons with our world-class, accredited faculty. Many students have already started virtual lessons with their teacher.

Due to the increasing concerns regarding the Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Music Conservatory of Westchester has proactively decided to close through April 12, 2020, with plans to reopen on Monday, April 13, 2020. Our goal is to minimize the risk among our students, families, faculty, and staff.

Due to the ongoing, escalated concern in our community regarding the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Music Conservatory of Westchester is closing the school for two days (March 9 & 10, 2020) as a precautionary measure. At this time, the Conservatory does not have any confirmed cases among any of its students, parents, faculty or staff, and has made this decision out of caution and care for our musical community.

Since 1986, the Music Therapy Institute has been the largest provider of professional music therapy services in the greater Westchester region, working individually and in small groups with over 2,000 children and adults each year.

“Participation in music therapy provides a range of benefits to people of all ages and abilities. The Music Therapy Institute faculty at MCW strive to support the specific needs of the individuals in our program….”

For 90 years, the Music Conservatory of Westchester has been building a legacy of providing the extraordinary benefits of music to all in our community. As we propel into building five new technology-based teaching spaces on our lower level this year, we need your help to make this possible! Share our Facebook fundraiser or donate to our Legacy Project, which will bring a Recording Studio, Digital Piano Lab, updated Percussion Studio, Multi-use Rehearsal Studio, and new Music Therapy Studio to our school. Through this endeavor, we will be able to offer more innovative classes for students of all ages, including the first a pre-college sound engineering program in Westchester County.

Many congratulations to Conservatory student Benjamin Araujo and piano faculty Dr. Irena Portenko for their incredible performance at Carnegie Hall on January 8, 2020.

Our 2019 Performathon raffle was a great success thanks to our Conservatory students, families, friends, and community!

More than 65 people participated in this year’s raffle in support of our Scholarship Program and Legacy Project – building new digital technology teaching spaces, including a new Percussion Studio, Digital Piano Lab, Recording Studio, additional Music Therapy Studio, and a multi-use Rehearsal Studio.

Congratulations to 9-year-old piano student Ellie Tataki for receiving State and Center Certificates of Excellence from the Royal Conservatory of Music Certificate Program, level 2!

Saturday, December 7 was a perfect day for Performathon 2019! More than 250 Music Conservatory of Westchester students and their families enjoyed the full day of incredible recitals, delicious donated food, and fun family-friendly activities. Students performed on a variety of instruments, representing classical, rock, jazz, and musical theatre music styles.

Conservatory Student Ben Wien Selected to Perform with Statewide Honor Concert Band

Congratulations to Conservatory French horn student Ben Wien, who will perform with the 2020 NYSBDA Statewide Middle School Honor Concert Band!

(White Plains, NY) On Saturday, November 16th, 2019 from 12-2pm, the Thalea String Quartet, Caramoor’s 2019–20 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence, will hold an open Masterclass at the Music Conservatory of Westchester. All are welcome to attend and participate.

Conservatory Piano Student Performs in Austria on Classical Music Immersion Tour

In August 2019, Music Conservatory of Westchester piano student Marina Varriano traveled to Vienna, Austria to perform in three concerts, take master classes, and participate in a week-long classical music immersion tour.

On Saturday, October 26th, Music Conservatory of Westchester students Cathy Stanton, clarinet, and Tim Guida, piano, played as a duo in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall as winners of the American Fine Arts Festival’s 2019 Chamber Music Competition.

The Music Conservatory of Westchester invites the Westchester County community to a 90th Anniversary Kick-off and Open House at its White Plains location on Saturday, October 5 from 11am through 3pm.