Fourteen years ago, Bellevue resident Beth Gott stopped by Music Works Northwest to enroll her children in music lessons. When she left, she too was enrolled for a class in baritone sax.

“I started with private lessons then joined a quartet,” Gott said.

She’d played the sax when she was younger and wanted to get back into it. She’s now among the school’s most involved students – playing with several of the school’s jazz ensembles, as well as showing her skills in professional gigs around town.

“The staff and faculty have been very great people,” Gott said. “And I’ve had some really great learning experiences.”

Founded in 1966 as the Imperial Drum and Bugle Corps, Music Works Northwest is a nonprofit community school dedicated to providing accessible music education and experiences to people on the Eastside. The school, which provides lessons in more than 21 instruments, hosts approximately 400 students per week. In the summer, an additional 200 students participate in summer camps. But, most notable, is how they’ve been able to operate, and with such success, for so long.

“I think it’s the conglomeration of faculty and students,” said Scott Ketron, who serves as the director for Education Programs and Community Outreach at the school. “The fact that we can have professionals, adult amateurs and kids all playing in the same room [gives us] the ability to offer unique programming.”

Ketron, who has played professionally in a number of symphonies and teaches percussion at the school, has been involved at Music Works since 1991.

“We’ve got hot shots here,” said Karen Nestvold, development manager for the school.

The teachers, music therapists and ensemble directors have strong academic credentials and are among the Puget Sound region’s most active and sought after performers. Faculty members have undergraduate and graduate degrees from prestigious institutions including the Julliard School, the Eastman School of Music and Berklee College of Music, among others.

In addition to its musical offerings, Music Works Northwest continues to turn heads for it’s expanding music therapy program.

Introduced by Dr. Carleen Brown when the school relocated to Southeast Eastgate Way in 1998, the program uses

music to address physical, emotional, cognitive and social needs of individuals of all ages. While most music therapy programs operate within hospitals, Music Works provides students with an environment more suitable for exploration and creativity.

“When we have people who come here, they come here with siblings who are also taking lessons,” said Patti Catalano, board-certified music therapist and a neurologic music therapy fellow at Music Works. “It’s a normalizing experience.”

Catalano said the majority of music therapy lessons at Music Works are private, one-on-one lessons. These sessions are individualized and catered to each client’s needs and address things including Movement to Music (physical organization, orientation, and expression); Singing/Vocalizing (expressive communication, vocal inflections); Instrument Playing (fine and gross motor skills, structured and free-playing opportunities); and Songwriting (self-expression, communication, problem solving, teamwork). The program also offers a handful of group classes, with plans to expand options in the fall.

Another celebrated program at Music Works is the New School of Jazz Program, which began in 2011.

While students from high schools throughout Bellevue have been studying jazz for several years at Music Works, the New School of Jazz program came about when Program Director Bruce Staelens realized the majority of jazz education being offered at Music Works was Big Band-oriented.

“For me, the key component to jazz is improvisation,” Staelens said. “That’s the main thing that separates jazz from classical music.”

As such, it was Staelens’ and his colleagues’ goal to introduce their students to other types of jazz music. In it’s first year, the program had enough talented students to form an eight-piece Honors Jazz Ensemble.

“The kids that participated were chomping at the bit to have the chance to improvise more,” Staelens said.

Staelens said another important aspect of the jazz program is to teach students what the music business is all about.

“The goal is to make [the New School of Jazz] a college prep school for kids wanting to go on in music,” Staelens said.

From that original group of eight students, four went on to pursue degrees in music – at The New School in New York City, the Berklee College of Music in Boston, The University of Oregon and Central Washington University.

The program now includes a fluctuating number of jazz ensembles, as well as lessons in specific instruments such as piano and Rio Style guitar. This fall, Staelens hopes to create two or three Honors Jazz Ensembles as well as a small vocal ensemble.

“Vocal part of jazz is also really important,” Staelens said.

Looking into the future, Staelens hopes to build a jazz choir at Music Works.

Yet the school’s biggest achievement may be the lasting impressions its staff and faculty continue to make. It’s for this reason, past students, like professional pianist Aaron Parks, continue to stay in touch. Parks most recently stopped by the school to teach a master class during the Bellevue Jazz Festival. Staelens adds that he’s stayed in touch with several students, many of whom have invited him to their college concerts across the country.

For Gott, who participates in a number of ensemble groups, the positive experience has meant continued instruction at Music Works.

“With Music Works, there’s always an opportunity to continue learning,” Gott said. “And with improv you can always push yourself. That never ends.”

To learn more about Music Works Northwest, go to HERE.