The Institute is a non-profit 501(c)3 arts organization which believes that artistic expression and the creative process prepare children for success and endow them with life skills and self confidence. Offering a wide-range of art forms including: instrumental music The Institute offers high-quality arts education to fulfill its mission of H.A.R.M.O.N.Y - Helping Achieve Responsible Motivated Optimistic Neighborhood Youth.

The Institute believes that all children, regardless of economic status, deserves access to high-quality arts education and provides our local families with subsidized tuition to its group classes and private lessons in the ARTS. The Institute offers four core-programming initiatives to fulfill its mission of:

H.A.R.M.O.N.Y - Helping Achieve Responsible Motivated Optimistic Neighborhood Youth.

Guided by the multiple intelligences theory of Harvard's Dr. Howard Gardner, the Institute’s programming includes:

• The Summer Institute - an intensive five-week arts immersion program for K-9th graders

• The Afterschool Institute - two 12-week semesters provide group classes and private lessons to children, teens, and adults.

• The Community Institute - collaborates with outside schools, organizations and agencies to bring quality arts education into the community

• The Youth Employment Program - prepares teens for their working lives by training and employing them to mentor younger students, assistant teach and serve as administrative assistance

History

In 1995, the members of the Third-Westminster Presbyterian Church in Elizabeth, NJ wanted to find a means of providing a service to its changing community. The schools were over-crowded and budgets were being slashed. The arts were being cut, if not totally eliminated from the curriculum. Realizing that one of the responsibilities of the church was to provide a safe place for the children in the community, the Institute of Music for Children was founded to provide children with a means of pursuing affordable artistic training in a secure surrounding. Recognizing that this job was too big for the church to handle alone, the Institute was incorporated in 2003. Since then, the Institute has served nearly 1200 students with quality arts experiences in a nurturing and supportive environment. Teaching artists are among the best in the state, and represent a vast array of artistic genres. The Institute is proud of the diversity of its artists, and strives to let students in its largely minority service area see themselves reflected in their teachers.

The Institute is governed by an 8-member Board of Trustees and administered by Executive Director Alysia Souder.

The Institute of Music for Children

(located in Third Westminster Presbyterian Church)

780 Salem Ave.

Elizabeth, NJ 07208

On the Corner of North Ave and Salem Ave.

Easily accessible from Garden State Parkway, Route 1& 9 and the New Jersey Turnpike.

Within walking distance of public transportation (train and bus)