​For over 50 years, the Dorothy Delson Kuhn Music Institute has been sharing the love of music with Staten Islanders. We offer group and private lessons for children and adults.
For more information on our programs, contact Ela Seeley at eseeley@sijcc.com​ or 718.475.5263
Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DDKMusicInstitute

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Upcoming Programs: 

REGISTER HERE

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If you appreciate our programs and would like to donate to the music institute,  please 
​click here.

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Learn more about our programs by watching these videos!

The Magic of Violin

The Magic of Flute

The Magic of Piano

The Poetic Language of Jazz, Parts 1 & 2

The Unusual Glamour of the Harpsichord, Parts 1 & 2

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Check out this review of our Music Experience program!

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In-person Lessons Resumed October 18th!

We are pleased to announce that the Dorothy Delson Kuhn Music Institute reopened for in-person lessons beginning on Sunday, October 18. We are committed to providing a safe, high-quality learning experience for your child and will be following New York State Department of Health and CDC guidelines. Our plan is designed to be flexible so that we can adapt and refine our response as guidance changes. Our goal is to minimize risk and provide students with a safe and educational experience. Below you will find protocols we are implementing in order to ensure a safe environment for your child.

Please contact Ela Seeley at eseeley@sijcc.com or (718) 475-5263 if you have any questions or concerns. We look forward to seeing your children in the months ahead.
 
If you prefer to take virtual lessons, those are still available. You can sign up for in-person and virtual lessons here.

Safety Protocols

• When arriving at the JCC, and before entering the building, you will be required to complete an online questionnaire asking whether your child is experiencing symptoms of COVID, or recently has been in close proximity with someone who is experiencing symptoms or tested positive for COVID. You will be required to fill this out each time you enter the building and asked to share the results with a JCC staff member. The link to the online questionnaire can be found here.
• At the entry to the building (by the JCC front desk), a JCC staff member will conduct a temperature check of your child using a touchless thermometer. If your child records a temperature of 100.4 F or higher, they will be prohibited from entering the building.
• After the temperature check is completed, students will proceed upstairs to their assigned room in the Music Institute (either Ensemble 1 or 2) for their lesson. Students are asked to follow the traffic direction lines clearly marked on the floors throughout the building.
• All participants and instructors are required to wear face masks while in the JCC building (including during their lesson).
• Acceptable face coverings for COVID-19 include, but are not limited to, cloth-based face and disposable masks that cover both the mouth and nose. Bandanas, buffs, and gaiters are not acceptable face coverings for use in the Music Institute.
• Consistent with social distancing guidelines, students and teachers will sit at least 6 feet apart from one another during lessons.
• Sharing instruments is prohibited. After each lesson, instruments will be cleaned and sanitized.
• Teachers will frequently wipe down touched surfaces such as door handles and spray the room with disinfecting spray, both before and after each lesson.
• The Music Institute rooms will be thoroughly cleaned by maintenance staff at the end of the program day.
• Students are asked to arrive 5 minutes early to be checked in. If you arrive early, we ask that you wait in your car until 5 minutes prior to your scheduled lesson time.
• There will be 5-minute breaks between lessons to allow for staff to clean the Music Institute rooms.
• Please be on time for lessons as we are working on a tight timeline to ensure that students receive instruction time with their teacher. Lateness to a lesson will shorten the lesson’s duration.
• Parents are not permitted in the building during lessons and are asked to wait in their cars during the sessions.
• You will be required to sign a waiver form. The waiver form only needs to be signed once prior to your first visit and will be kept on file. The link for adults is here. The link for minors is here. You will not be permitted to enter the building until the waiver form is completed.
• The Music Institute lessons will be offered Sundays from 8am-1pm and Monday-Friday from 3pm-7:00pm
• The Music Institute is open to registered students only, JCC Members and Non-Members.
• Students may register minimally for 10 lesson increments.
• It is preferred that payments be made online through the JCC website.
• If you need to cancel a lesson, please do so via email or by calling. If you sign up for a lesson and do not show up, you will be charged for that lesson. Teachers are not required to provide make-up lessons for student absences.

About the Music Institute

Music instruction at the Jewish Community Center of Staten Island began in the late 1950s in affiliation with the Bronx House School of Music. In 1970, the Music Institute of the JCC was founded by its co-directors, Dorothy Delson Kuhn and Bertha R. Mandel, as an autonomous music school. The school received its current name, The Dorothy Delson Kuhn Music Institute, in 1994.

Mission

The mission of the Dorothy Delson Kuhn Music Institute is to provide, in a community music school setting at the Jewish Community Center of Staten Island, exceptionally fine instruction in the performance, understanding and appreciation of music, particularly but not exclusively, to schoolchildren. Students learn in a non-competitive atmosphere. The Music Institute is a non-profit and non-sectarian music school. It is the only member of the National Guild of Community Arts Education on Staten Island.
Frequent student-faculty recitals provide an incentive for progress and an opportunity for students to share their accomplishments with their families, friends and other students. At these recitals, students are able to hear their peers and teachers play.

Private LessonS

Private lessons may be 30, 45 or 60 minutes.  Enrollment is for 30 weekly lessons from September through May/June. Special provisions are made for late registrants. Lessons are offered in-person as well as virtually.

Private lessons are available in:

• Bassoon
• Violin
• Cello
• Clarinet
• Flute
• French horn
• Guitar
• Oboe
• Percussion
• Piano
• Saxophone
• Trumpet
• Recorder
• Trombone
• Tuba
• Voice

Parent/Child Classes

Music with Mr. Ray, Presented by the Dorothy Delson Kuhn Music Institute and JCC Day Camp
Sunday, August 22, 11am-12pm
Bernikow JCC Lawn

• Join us for a FREE music performance for children and families by Mr. Ray! Mr. Ray sings original songs with positive messages about kindness, respect, and social-emotional awareness.

Register here.

If you have any questions, please contact Ela Seeley at ESeeley@SIJCC.com

Children's ClasseS

Music Experiences
Mondays and Thursdays at 5pm starting May 3rd - Zoom link follows your registration

• Join a certified Music Therapist in a virtual session to sing, play, and express your inner musicality. This class is for ages 6-20.

​This program is approved to accept funding through Medicaid Waiver. Register here.

​Jazz Guitar Workshop for Youth
Thursday, July 8, 4pm-5pm

• Join us for a FREE, virtual jazz guitar workshop for musicians ages 9-18! Learn new skills in jazz improvisation, including harmony, chord progressions, and voicings.

Register here. Zoom link to follow registration. Prior experience on instrument required.

​Drama Adventures
Wednesdays, July 7 - July 28, 4-5pm 
Bernikow JCC, Ensemble Room #1

• Bring a fairy tale to life with theater games, songs, and stories! This 4-week, in-person class led by Bethany Sarah Friedman introduces children ages 5-7 to stage presence and self-expression in a fun and supportive environment.

$60 Members | $80 Non-Members. Register here. Limited spaces available. Register by July 1. 

If you have any questions, please contact Ela Seeley at ESeeley@SIJCC.com

TEEN PROGRAMS

Music Experiences
Mondays and Thursdays at 5pm starting May 3rd - Zoom link follows your registration

• Join a certified Music Therapist in a virtual session to sing, play, and express your inner musicality. This class is for ages 6-20.

​This program is approved to accept funding through Medicaid Waiver. Register here.

​Jazz Guitar Workshop for Youth
Thursday, July 8, 4pm-5pm

• Join us for a FREE, virtual jazz guitar workshop for musicians ages 9-18! Learn new skills in jazz improvisation, including harmony, chord progressions, and voicings.

Register here. Zoom link to follow registration. Prior experience on instrument required.

Programs for Adults

Stay tuned for upcoming programs!

Music FacultY

​Faculty members of the Dorothy Delson Kuhn Music Institute are active in the cultural life of the community. They teach in Staten Island schools and colleges and they are performers and conductors for ensembles and orchestras locally and throughout the New York City area.
Piano:
Tatyana Cherepinskaya
Yelena Khaymovich
Stella Rasporskaya
Aleksandra Sarest
Viktoryia Strezh
Bo Wun Jeon
Guitar:
Fred Crisson
Robert Tarallo
Strings
Tamara Jaton​
Larissa Vollis
Woodwinds:
Nicole Auriti
Daniel Kelley
Jessica Sperato
Brass:
Alan Aurelia
Carolyn Clark
Voice:
Therese Panicali
Early Childhood Music:
Kelly Grant
Lisa Forst
Theory, Music Appreciation:
Yelena Khaymovich
Chamber Music:
Larisa Vollis
Percussion:
Thomas Baker

Scholarships

Harmony Club
The Dorothy Delson Kuhn Music Institute is accepting highly motivated music students in grades 9-12 to participate in a FREE comprehensive course of study. “Harmony Club” students receive private lessons and ensemble classes throughout the 2020-21 school year. In addition, students participate in master classes, and solo and group recitals. Students accepted to the program are required to fully participate in lessons and workshops and to represent the program through public performances.  

To apply, please email your 1-2 min performance audition to Ela Seeley, Music Institute Director, at eseeley@sijcc.com.  This program is made possible through a grant from UJA-Federation of New York.

Partial Scholarship Auditions
Audition for a partial scholarship to the Dorothy Delson Kuhn Music Institute! The program is open to students entering grades 5-12 who have some prior training on their instrument. These funds allow talented young musicians to take private lessons with professional instructors, as well as participate in recitals, ensembles, and music theory classes, at an affordable cost to their families. 
 
Scholarships are awarded on the basis of ability and demonstrated financial need, with a limited number of merit-based scholarships also available.
 
To apply, please email a 1-2 minute performance audition video to Ela Seeley, Music Institute Director, at eseeley@SIJCC.com.

Music Brochure 2019-2020
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