Today we’d like to introduce you to Christy Zarlengo.
Christy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I am a singer and pianist who came to Boston to study songwriting at Berklee in the early 90’s. One of my jobs after finishing up at Berklee was as a piano teacher, and shortly thereafter as an Early Childhood group music teacher. I quickly fell in love with this job, and opened up a Music Together® center in a church in Jamaica Plain center back in 2001. We grew quickly, and in 2006 we had a wonderful opportunity to move into the old Heffenreffer brewery over in JP’s Stony Brook neighborhood. The brewery was being renovated at the time, and we became the Children’s Music Center of JP back in 2006. Our studio is literally inside of one of the grain hops from the old brewery!
The Music Center is a “boutique” neighborhood music school. We provide group classes and private lessons (piano), and our group offerings specialize mostly in children 6 and under. Our flagship program is Music Together®, which are group music classes for infants, toddler, preschoolers and their grown-ups. This program is so popular that we have taken it over to neighboring Roslindale, offering some classes at Akasha Yoga.
When kids age out of Music Together®, they can move into a variety of programs for kids 4+, including Dalcroze classes, group piano and ukulele classes, a Musical Theatre program, and other offerings which rotate in and out of our schedule. We also offer birthday parties in our space!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Overall, I have felt extremely lucky in how well my business has done. This feeling of gratefulness is mostly that I get to make my living doing something I love so much, and providing a service which enriches life for children and families. Doesn’t get much better than this. That said, it’s no secret anymore that the children’s market is a strong market! While the center used to thrive simply by hanging a few flyers in the neighborhood and our customers recommending us to each other, we are now competing with many “hot new programs” out there! Social media has become the new and necessary marketing tool, and it is saturated with many, many kids’ programs now. We are rising to meet this challenge, but the children’s market is not as easy as it used to be.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Children’s Music Center of Jamaica Plain story. Tell us more about the business.
We are a boutique music school in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood. We specialize in providing music programs for kids mostly 6 and under. We are largely known for our Music Together® classes. Music Together® is an internationally recognized early childhood music program, which has been around since 1987 (their website can be found at musictogether.com). I am most proud of providing a space where children and families can explore music and meet other families. We guide children from their very first musical discoveries to learning the piano should they choose to do so, and we hope to foster community along the way.
I think what sets us apart from other music schools is that, as opposed to being a conservatory-like setting, our programs are designed to allow children to explore music through a handful of different programs which they can try. Many of our classes are offered in 8-9 week terms, so kids can bounce around to different programs and just try things out.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I think I was lucky to start this business in Jamaica Plain just as more young families were starting to move here, but before it completely exploded as a Boston hot spot. I think it may be harder for new businesses starting here now because the neighborhood has become saturated with children’s programming.
Contact Info:
- Address: 284 Amory Street, Floor 1
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 - Website: jamaicaplainmusic.com
- Phone: 617-524-1784
- Email: jamaicaplainmusic@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Childrens-Music-Center-of-Jamaica-Plain-175908545780093/
Tess Scheflan
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