Villa Musica, which offers musical education for individuals and groups of all ages, is expanding its classes to the campus of All Souls’ Episcopal Church in Point Loma starting the week of Sept. 16.
Villa Musica, headquartered in Sorrento Valley, first opened in 2005 under the leadership of Executive Director Fiona Chatwin.
For Chatwin, the expansion to All Souls’ at 1475 Catalina Blvd. is another step in the nonprofit’s heavy focus on community engagement.
“We have had a long-standing relationship with All Souls’. We have been working within the Point Loma area for a long time,” Chatwin said. “Over the past few months, we have been designing our collaboration, a plan that will include some private lessons and group classes.”
Group, private and early-childhood courses will be offered on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Villa Musica’s group lessons in Point Loma cost $160-$235 for 10 weeks and are offered for children ages 3-12. Classes include guitar, voice, violin and musical exploration.
Private lessons for all ages in violin/viola, bass, guitar, piano and voice range from $164 to $328 per month.
Leaders at All Souls’ also have high hopes that Villa Musica’s expansion to Point Loma will benefit the community.
“It will create a sense of the church being a community hub,” said Ruben Valenzuela, church organist and director of music. “We love feeling like we are part of the community, and Villa Musica coming in will certainly bolster that.”
The church has cleared several rooms for Villa Musica to work in and has prepped its children’s choir to the idea of a potential merger.
“One of the private voice instructors at Villa Musica assists with the children’s choir at the church, so there is an overlap there and we are hoping that the choir experience can merge,” Valenzuela said. “This all feels like a true collaboration between these two collectives.”
Chatwin said creating accessibility and exploration in the musical realm is a top priority. Early in her career, she trained as an opera singer and witnessed firsthand the rigors and expectations of musical performances.
In creating Villa Musica, Chatwin took the opportunity to make a change, forming a space where musical exploration is exciting and welcoming, she said.
“We are not in the mindset to stomp on people,” Chatwin said. “We are about building and bolstering musicians. We want people to feel welcome and be able to discover and explore what they are capable of. We want people to come in and be understood for where they are and where they want to go.”
Villa Musica offers support for educators as well as students, Chatwin said. Across San Diego County, it has implemented several in-school programs, loaning teachers and educational resources to schools for assistance with in-class music courses.
“We love to go into classrooms and amplify the programming, especially at schools where music opportunities are limited,” Chatwin said. “We are planning to reach out to Point Loma schools as well and offer a sense of collaboration and start a community conversation so we can give support to music teachers already at these local schools.”
Currently, schools in Point Loma offer different approaches to musical education.
At the private Warren-Walker School, students attend music classes weekly.
“The music program is rich with experiences beginning in prekindergarten and increasing in complexity through eighth grade,” said Warren-Walker Headmistress Pam Volker. “The music teachers work together to ensure that all music concepts are addressed and that each student progresses. In the end, a solid foundation has been built so that the students who wish to continue to develop their musical skills can be knowledgeable and confident in their choices.”
At the High Tech charter schools, musical education varies based on the school and age group.
At High Tech High Media Arts, students are offered Music 1 and 2, which according to a course catalog expose students to musical traditions from a variety of cultures, touching on the basics of music theory such as scales, key signatures, chords, rhythm, reading treble and bass clefs and finishing with a live performance.
Similar coursework is offered at High Tech Middle Media Arts, where a music class aims to strengthen reading, composition, recording, editing and critical listening skills, according to a course catalog.
Specific information about the musical offerings in the nine public schools in the Point Loma-Ocean Beach area operated by the San Diego Unified School District was not immediately available.
One of them, Point Loma High School, has a program including jazz, orchestra, symphony and chamber music, as well as music theory, according to its website.
Chatwin, who said she has spoken with the district about its offerings, said “at the elementary level, for the San Diego Unified schools in Point Loma, they have music exposure within school. Starting in fifth grade and beyond, it escalates to a more structured class system.”
She said Villa Musica already plans to offer opportunities for collaboration at each of the Point Loma-OB schools.
She said the nonprofit will seek to provide assistance to the schools’ music programs when and where needed.
“When we reach out to schools, we ask the music teachers how we can help them,” Chatwin said. “Some of the schools have block grants from the district. If there is no block grant, we will fundraise to ensure music teachers are making a livable wage.
“If a school has a band program, we go in and help the teacher and send specialists to work alongside school band directors. We do that for orchestras and choruses as well. We have been running these programs for years, and they are currently in about 10 schools across San Diego.”
Chatwin said she and her team are “really excited about this opportunity to offer our highly trained specialists to the area. … We are all about creating a home for music and fostering a deep sense of community.”
For more information about the Point Loma offerings and to register, visit villamusica.org/point-loma-campus.
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