The Shedd Institute's Community Music School offers classes and private lessons for all ages in a wide range of musical instruments and styles. The school also offers summer music camps, a school music enrichment assembly program, and special workshops associated with select Shedd concerts.

The Shedd Community Music School offers need-based financial aid for youth and adult students alike, thanks to the generosity of donors and corporate sponsors, so that cost is not a barrier to learning music. Confidential financial aid applicaiton forms can be downloaded online from our eDocument archive or picked up at the Registrar's office. Submit the appropriate form for either a class or private lessons to the Registar. Get financial aid forms from our eDocument archive here.

While Vaudeville may seem like an older art form, at The Shedd there are several ways we keep Vaudeville alive! Our E. Y. Harburg Academy’s Vaudeville Hour, The Music Box class, and The Magical Moombah performance series provide many opportunities to participate. Vaudeville may be a performance art, but it can teach so much more to students than just being onstage! [continue reading...]

The Shedd Institute's mission is "to serve as a cultural center where people find and nurture community through discovery, creation, and celebration.” Our Community Music School reflects this mission in practice by encouraging experimentation (with instruments, instructors, musical styles) and the joy of making personal connections; responding to inquiry and supporting collaborations; and eliminating the stultifying “pressure of excellence” when celebrating student learning.