The mission of the Concord Community Music School is to provide the widest array of music education, performance, and engagement opportunities to people of all ages, and to ensure that everyone can access these opportunities regardless of financial ability, ethnic or cultural heritage, age, physical ability, or other barriers to engaging in music. Toward that end, programs take place both at the School itself and throughout the community, and 15% of the School’s budget is dedicated to student financial aid.

The Concord Community Music School was founded in 1984, modeled after the Settlement House tradition in which highly-regarded artists and community members came together to provide access to education, music, and the arts for people in under-served communities. In 1988, the School moved to its current location on Wall St. in Concord, N.H., occupying an old church and its rectory. In 2001, a capital campaign made possible a new addition that more than doubled the School’s size to 23,000 square feet. This combined facility incorporates three floors of teaching studios and larger ensemble rooms, including a percussion room. It also features a recording studio, an outdoor performance area next to a city park, and two large indoor performance spaces — the lovely Recital Hall, formerly a church sanctuary, and the multi-purpose Community Room.