Looking for piano lessons? Does your child want to learn to sing or play guitar? Are you looking for a music class for your baby or toddler? The Central Coast Conservatorium of Music in Gosford is now taking enrolments for 2024.
The Conservatorium has been offering quality music lessons to children on the Central Coast for 40 years. And they offer so many options – making them a real one-stop shop for music education on the Central Coast:
+ Their popular Children’s Music Program (CMP) provides early childhood music lessons for babies, toddlers and preschoolers.
+ They have multiple qualified musicians teaching one-to-one instrumental and vocal lessons.
+ Group Keyboard Club is available for kids.
+ They run Guitar Club and a group singing program.
+ Music therapy is available for people of all ages and all abilities.
+ Join an ensemble, orchestra or string group.
Term 1 2024 starts on 2 February and they’re taking enrolments now. Want to find out more? Pop into the Con’s beautifully renovated historic premises at the old courthouse at 45 Mann Street, Gosford, to chat with the friendly team, or click below to visit their website and enrol.
Read on to learn more about each offering. ↓
The Central Coast Conservatorium of Music’s Children’s Music Program (for children aged 0-10)
Is your child a mini maestro or a budding Beethoven? The Central Coast Conservatorium’s Children’s Music Program, for babies up to primary school-aged kids, is a great way to introduce your little ones to the joy of music with classes involving singing, dancing, movement and, of course, lots of fun!
The Conservatorium’s Children’s Music Program (CMP) is a sequential program for children aged 0 – 10 years, developed by a team of dedicated music teachers who have been nurturing a love for music in babies, toddlers, preschoolers and school-aged children for over 25 years.
Their CMP program is divided into four stages, with classes run from the CCCM Gosford Campus as well as in West Gosford and Woy Woy. The classes are broken into age groups:
+ Baby Beats (babies – 0-2 years)
+ Mini Music Makers (toddlers – 2-4 years)
+ Mini Maestros (pre-school – 4-5 years)
+ Young Musicians (Primary school – 5-10 years)
In Baby Beats and Mini Music Makers, children are accompanied by a parent/caregiver who participates in all activities.
Mini Maestros builds on the skills and concepts from Baby Beats and Mini Music Makers, while encouraging children’s independence.
Young Musicians is a sequential program for school-aged children aged 5 to 10 years. Each level spans one school year (four terms). Students study both choral work and learn to play several musical instruments.
Central Coast group and individual Music Therapy sessions
Did you know Central Coast Conservatorium is a registered NDIS provider and offers on-site music therapy sessions in its new dedicated music therapy studio in Gosford?
Catering for beginners up to tertiary students and beyond, the tailored sessions are led by experienced musician and early childhood educator Emma Townsend. Emma is also the Conservatorium’s Head of Music Therapy, a registered music therapist, a violinist and a chamber musician, and all of this makes her well-placed to understand the needs of young music students and how to nurture their talents.
About Music Therapy
Music therapy differs from music education as its main goal is not to develop musical skills or learn a new instrument, but rather to aim to improve a person’s health, functioning and well-being in a therapeutic setting that uses music interventions as the primary tool.
Goals such as increasing social skills, providing ways to interact and communicate verbally and non-verbally, developing cognitive awareness, gaining sensory motor skills, promoting relaxation, providing opportunities for reminiscence, working towards rehabilitation and providing opportunities for self-expression can all be addressed through various Music Therapy techniques.
Who can it help?
Many people of all ages and abilities can benefit from music therapy:
· intellectual and physical disabilities
· mood disorders
· neurological disorders
· rehabilitation for stroke patients
· behavioural issues
· elderly and dementia patients
One-on-one musical instrument tuition at Central Coast Conservatorium of Music
With around 50 dedicated music teachers, the Conservatorium offers lessons in a vast array of musical instruments from its Gosford campus at 45 Mann Street.
One-to-one lessons are offered for the multiple instruments:
+ Piano
+ String: Violin, viola, cello, double bass
+ Woodwind: Clarinet, flute, bassoon, saxophone and recorder
+ Brass: Trumpet, trombone, French horn, tuba, euphonium
+ Guitar – contemporary, jazz, classical
+ Percussion
+ Singing
Keyboard Club for kids aged 5-15!
Families with budding musicians will be very pleased to hear that the Central Coast Conservatorium of Music offers keyboard lessons to children aged five to 15!
If your child wants to learn to play the keyboard, this is the place to go. Central Coast Conservatorium of Music’s Keyboard Club makes lessons fun and engaging in small group classes.
Classes run after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Saturday mornings in Gosford. They are capped at eight students and are grouped by age:
- 5-7 years
- 8-10 years
- 9-11 years
- 10-12 years
- 13-15 years
There are so many benefits to learning a musical instrument:
- It sharpens fine motor skills.
- Improves hand-eye coordination.
- Boosts cognitive and intellectual abilities.
- Improves memory.
- Increases spatial-temporal ability (which figures heavily in math and science).
- Even makes structural changes to the brain that stay with you for the rest of your life.
Starting with Keyboard Club is also a great way to prep mini musicians for one-to-one lessons and lets families ‘try out’ the piano before committing to the full cost of one-to-one tuition.
When: From 3.45pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and from 9am on Saturday. View the Keyboard Club timetable here.
Where: On-site at the Con in Gosford (45 Mann Street)
Guitar Club and a Singing/Piano Program
As well as Keyboard Club, outlined above, the Conservatorium runs group lessons in singing and guitar:
+ Guitar Club
+ Kawai Sing Program (a singing and piano program)
Guitar Club is the Central Coast’s first comprehensive and cost-effective approach to learning guitar in a group environment.The program is aimed at students in Years 5 and 6 (aged 10-12) regardless of their prior music experience or knowledge. Guitar Club members learn to play the guitar in small groups on a weekly basis. The cost-effective music lessons will include group tuition and ensemble learning environments. It’s a 45-minute lesson with around five students per class.
The Kawai Sing Program is a weekly group keyboard class and vocal program for students in Year 3-4. “This program is aimed at kids on the Coast who show a strong interest in music and also have an interest in singing but haven’t necessarily had any formal singing or keyboard lessons,” said Central Coast Conservatorium of Music Artistic Director, Patrick Brennan. Kawai Sing is a scholarship program designed as a pathway program to keyboard and singing lessons and entry into the program will be via audition.
Ensembles, orchestras and string groups
Want to do more with your music?
The Conservatorium is also home to its audition-based ensembles which rehearse weekly in Gosford and perform regularly in concerts on the Coast and further afield.
There are a number of groups available:
+ Central Coast Children’s/Youth Choir
+ Central Coast Primary Wind Ensemble
+ Central Coast Symphonic Wind Orchestra
+ Central Coast Youth Orchestra
+ Saturday Strings
Central Coast Conservatorium of Music
Address: 45 Mann St, Gosford.
Phone: 4324 7477.
Email: [email protected]
Open: Mon – Fri 9am – 5pm, Sat 10am – 2pm.
Website: Central Coast Conservatorium of Music
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CentralCoastConservatoriumofMusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cccmusicgosford/
