By Elle Wood

MILFORD – The Music School of Delaware has reached a “note”worthy milestone.

The school has been serving the First State for 100 years. It was founded in Wilmington 1924 and was formally incorporated in 1925.

The celebrations will run through the remainder of this year with some more celebrations in 2025.

It was originally the Wilmington Music School, which changed to the Music School of Delaware after merging with Milford’s Delaware Music School in 1997. That facility was opened in 1981 by Michelle Peters.

Stephen Beaudoin, president and chief executive officer of the school, said the merger was an opportunity to provide statewide music education.

“There were very limited options for downstate music education outside of public schools until the founding of the Delaware Music School in Milford,” said Mr. Beaudoin. “That was a really important inflection point.”

He said the school was able to grow and find students to teach.

“There was a realization that especially given Delaware’s modest size and also real need for quality community music education in all parts of the state that the merger in 1997 really set off an incredible era of expansion,” said Mr. Beaudoin. “We expanded our statewide impact, growing our presence with locations in Lewes, Milford, Dover as well as our upstate location.”

Ms. Peters has been credited for her work in the downstate area for providing an environment for students to get the most out of their time in the Music School of Delaware. She still continues to teach at the school.

“She has really helped us to steward and grow along our wonderful community of downstate supporters that not only came from Milford but came from other towns in the two downstate counties,” said Mr. Beaudoin.

The Music School of Delaware serves people of all ages. The staff at the school enjoys watching the students succeed, even after their time there.

“The biggest success stories are the success stories of our students,” said Mr. Beaudoin. “We have had hundreds of thousands of students come through the music school all over the state.

“The impact that studying at the school, learning at the school, growing through the school, I think the biggest success stories in which we are most proud are our students who have gone on to live rich and meaningful lives.”

They offer dozens of programs from one-on-one private instruction to classes on almost any aspect of music and ensembles.

To celebrate 100 years of music education, the Music School of Delaware will host a concert series next year to be announced in the fall.

The Centennial Celebration Kickoff event was June 25 and included performances from students and remarks from the faculty.

However, even in the midst of celebration, the school is looking forward to what the next 100 years will look like. Recently, other art and music schools in the area have shut down. They do not want to be next.

“(Arts education) is a fragile ecosystem,” said Mr. Beaudoin. “When you look at some of what is happening in the industry, we have to be really careful about how we move and evolve.

“We really need to pay attention to the needs of the people because our whole institution is here to serve the students and families.”

This means having more engagement and finding the people they do not yet reach.

“We are more interested than ever in talking with our existing community and the community folks that we don’t serve today,” said Mr. Beaudoin. “And seeking the needs of the families and students.”

He hopes that getting the work done now will help them far into the future.

“We need to be stepping more bravely into the 22nd century,” said Mr. Beaudoin. “We are already a quarter of the way through the 21st century and our next 100 years is not guaranteed.”

For more information about the Music School of Delaware visit Musicschoolofdelaware.org.