​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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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

Fall/Winter Programs

Music Together

• Parents and children will learn basic music skills and create special memories while making music together!

Sundays or Tuesdays, starting 10/5 
9 week session, 10 - 10:45am, at the Bernikow JCC 
Infant - 5 years old
Members: $215 / Non-Members: $225

Music Adventures with Ms. Bo

• Explore music through song, movement, and instrumental play along! 

10 week session starting 10/4 - free demo 9/19
Mondays, 3:30 - 4:30pm at the Bernikow JCC 
Ages 3-5
Members: $120 / Non-Members: $160

Groovy Music Time

• Enjoy music and movement with a certified Music Therapist able to engage children with emotional and cognitive needs! Focus on motor skills and language areas! Parent participation is required.

10 week session starting 10/4
Mondays, 2:30 - 3:30pm at the Bernikow JCC
Ages 3-5
Members: $225 / Non-Members: $280

Drama Adventures

• Bring a fairytale to life with theater games, songs, and stories! This class introduces children to stage presence and self-expression in a fun and supportive environment.

10 week session starting 10/5 - free demo 9/19
Ages 3-5 - 3:30 - 4:30pm
Ages 5-7 - 4:30 - 5:30pm
Members: $120 / Non-Members: $160

Dance and Play Improv

• Learn dance techniques and choreography, express yourself through dance, and connect with friends!

10 week session starting 10/6 - free demo 9/19
Wednesdays, 3:30 - 4:30pm at the Bernikow JCC
Ages 3-5
Members: $120 / Non-Members: $160 

​Harmony Road

• A parent-child music experience focusing on the development of the whole child alongside keyboard readiness. 

10 week session starting 10/26 
Bernikow JCC 
Music in Me: Ages 3-4, 4pm
Harmony Road: Ages 4.5-6, 5pm
Young Musician: Ages 6-7, 6pm
Members: $165 / Non-Members: $195

​Suzuki Violin

• Learn to play violin using the Suzuki Method! With active parent participation, children learn by listening & imitating, as all children are innately musical.

Ages 3-6 (Parent participation required)
Sundays, 11am, 45 minutes 
Bernikow JCC
4-week FREE Demo Course: 10/3 - 10/24
Following 4-week demo, 10-week session begins 11/7
Members: $120 / Non-Members: $160 

Children's ClasseS

Stay tuned for upcoming programs!

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

TEEN PROGRAMS

Stay tuned for upcoming programs!

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
Stella Rasporskaya
Aleksandra Sarest
Bo Wun Jeon
Guitar:
Fred Crisson
Lou Russo ​
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
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.