MUSIC ECHOES through every corridor, the halls of First Baptist Church in Manchester full of sound even when church is not in session. The music comes from a wide variety of places — a 6-year-old sounds out his scales one by one, a high schooler practices for a school concert, and an adult picks up an instrument he hasn’t touched in years. All of them are aided in their music journey by the Manchester School of the Arts.
The school was founded in 2018 to fill a gap in the local community in private music training, Director Susan Green said. First Baptist Manchester also wanted to provide a place for musicians who wanted to get involved with the music ministries of their own churches.
“We felt like there was a need here in this community for those students who might want to study further and go deeper in their studies,” Green explained.
Both students and adults are welcome, and the school has teachers for almost any instrument available from piano, voice, and trumpet to ukulele, organ, or even accordion. The opportunities are endless to learn a skill that can only enhance your life. For Green, music was a part of her life from the beginning. Both parents were musicians, and when she found her own talent in the subject it helped her to grow and connect with other people.
“Music is worth doing; it teaches a lot of things,” Green said. “Some things only music can do, and that’s learning something kind of on your own, and being on your own, and achieving it on your own — with the help of your teacher, of course, but you’re working towards [that] goal, and you’re growing and learning.”
The Manchester School of the Arts has impacted the community greatly since its founding. Its first semester had nearly 50 students, and the latest had just under 90. Each of those students goes back to their school, their church or their family with something that enriches their environment.
“Quite a few of our students are part of their music program at their own churches,” Green said. “They come to us; they go to their own home church, and they’re performing there.”
Some adults come to pick up an instrument they haven’t touched in years. Others have never studied music and want to learn a skill they never had the opportunity for before. The youth in the program often come to the Manchester School of the Arts to practice for a school audition or performance, or they come from the local theater to prepare for a musical.
“We’ve helped them do that, and so they go out back to the community and perform,” Green said. “Hopefully, perform better and do well.”
All of that community impact is led by just 14 teachers, who Green said have lots of experience and love what they do. As the program grows, the vision is to offer more and more people the opportunity to study music and for them to flourish in their God-given abilities. The Manchester School of the Arts is a place to do just that. GN
Find the Manchester School of the Arts online at firstmanchester.org/school-of-thearts or call the First Baptist Manchester office at (931) 728-2138.
