Join us for a wonderful afternoon of music that features a MusicWorks Collective performance of trailblazing composer Amy Beach’s exquisite Piano Quintet with guest pianist Andrei Baumann.

Also on the program: a side-by-side collaboration between CMW students and their teachers featuring works by Beethoven and Dvořák.

Donations at this event support CMW student scholarships to summer sessions at Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music.

MusicWorks Collective and CMW Students Side-by-Side
Saturday, February 22 at 3 pm
Community MusicWorks Center

Make your reservation

This event is free, with an option to support the Fred Kelley Scholarship Fund with Choose-What-You-Pay suggested ticket prices:
$25 adult
$20 senior
$5 student
CMW students and families: free

When choosing music for the Sonata Series, I was imagining the vibrant sound space of the new performance hall in the CMW Center. In some ways, this could have been an opportunity for celebratory music. But the moment in our world and in this season called me toward the interiority of our experience. Music that draws on our rich lives of spirit and feeling, and that may bring us back to these places.

Discovering that our friend and former CMW colleague Jessie Montgomery crafted the short work Peace as a response to grappling with sadness in 2020 was a lightbulb moment. It felt like a perfect opener to a set of pieces framed around the magisterial world that is Arvo Pärt’s Fratres. Fratres has always been one of those pieces that seems to stand outside the currents of other music—it is activity and stillness that makes you feel like bowing in reverence to something eternal.

What could follow? The slow movement of the Vieuxtemps sonata emerges from stillness and goes into lush tender feeling, drawing us out of the reverence of Pärt, and into an emotional reverie that can carry us home.

I’m excited to explore the arc of these three beautiful works as a set together at Thursday’s concert.

–Sebastian Ruth, violist

Join us Thursday, February 13 at 7 pm at the CMW Center to hear these pieces performed by Sebastian with guest pianist Ivan Tan, along with a performance by Walter Muelling with Ivan of Gilbert Galindo’s Sonata for Viola and Piano. 

Sonata Series Event #2
Thursday, February 13 at 7 pm
The CMW Center
1326 Westminster Street, Providence

**SEATS IN THE PERFORMANCE HALL ARE SOLD OUT, BUT PLEASE JOIN US IN THE COZY CAFÉ AT THE CMW CENTER TO ENJOY A HIGH-QUALITY LIVESTREAM OF THE EVENT! NO RESERVATIONS ARE NECESSARY.**

Make your reservation here
This event is free, with an option to support CMW with Choose-What-You-Pay pricing:
$25 adult
$20 senior
$5 student
CMW students and their families: Free

**Seats in the Performance Hall are sold out, but please join us in the cozy café at the CMW Center to enjoy a high-quality livestream of the event! No reservations are necessary.**

Guest pianist Ivan Tan joins CMW violists Walter Muelling and Sebastian Ruth in a program to warm the soul.

Walter and Ivan present Gilbert Galindo’s Sonata for Viola and Piano, an eclectic and harmonically modern piece that combines tasteful lyricism with jazz, in ultimately what the composer writes is “a heartfelt song for viola.” Sebastian and Ivan share a series of pieces that capture the interiority and magic of the dark winter with Fratres by Arvo Pärt in its version for viola and piano, Peace by Jessie Montgomery, and selections from the Henri Vieuxtemps Sonata for Viola and Piano.

You won’t want to miss this evening of music!

Sonata Series Event #2
Thursday, February 13 at 7 pm
The CMW Center

**SEATS IN THE PERFORMANCE HALL ARE SOLD OUT, BUT PLEASE JOIN US IN THE COZY CAFÉ AT THE CMW CENTER TO ENJOY A HIGH-QUALITY LIVESTREAM OF THE EVENT! NO RESERVATIONS ARE NECESSARY.**

Make your reservation here
This event is free, with an option to support CMW with Choose-What-You-Pay pricing:
$25 adult
$20 senior
$5 student
CMW students and their families: Free

“The block party was truly transformative. It was magical. The building was alive.” -Chris Bardt, Principal, 3SIX0 Architecture

 As 2024 draws to a close, we’re thrilled that this year has brought the culmination of over a decade of dreaming, planning, and hard work with the opening of the Community MusicWorks Center. As students and community members fill the halls with music, life, and joy, we’re excited by the possibilities this new space brings.

We’re grateful to YOU, along with the many people who have come together to build this home for our community of young musicians. Your thoughtful input, gracious support, and unwavering vision helped to make it come alive.

Thank you!

We hope you’ll join us in celebrating this important milestone by making your year-end gift to support the innovative programming and vision of Community MusicWorks, and joining us for a concert soon!

Best wishes for a Happy New Year,
The Community MusicWorks Staff

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CMW welcomed elected and community leaders to a recent preview event: Senator Jack Reed, Councilwoman Rachel Miller, Mayor Brett Smiley, Lt. Governor Sabina Matos, CMW Board President Ramiro Encizo, CMW Founder & Artistic Director Sebastian Ruth, Congressman Gabe Amo, and Representative Seth Magaziner.

This week, CMW hosted a first look of our dynamic new building and performance space for elected and community leaders. This kickoff marks a new chapter for the organization as we move from a small storefront to a 24,000 square foot center, which will open to the public for the first time at a Grand Opening Celebration on Saturday, September 28.

“Access to music and arts education can be a transformative force in the lives of young people. For nearly 30 years, Community MusicWorks has been bringing music into the lives of Rhode Islanders and fostering connections through lessons and performances,” said U.S. Senator Jack Reed. “This new facility we are celebrating today is a testament to the dedication and hard work of Sebastian and his team, helping Rhode Islanders of all ages develop and hone their love of music and passion for the arts.”

“The Community MusicWorks Center aims to be the heart of a musical community that inspires and connects. This new space will allow young people for generations to gather, make those connections, and develop their craft as musicians,” said CMW Founder and Artistic Director Sebastian Ruth, who in 2010 was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the “genius grant,” for his work creating the organization. “We are excited for the building to inspire young people and professional artists in creative endeavors and community building.”

The new space will better serve the growing network of students, alumni, and professional musicians that benefit from CMW programs. From our humble beginnings with 15 students in 1997, the organization now serves approximately 130 students each year, engages world renowned musicians like Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax, and offers regular public concert performances as the MusicWorks Collective.

“Every child, regardless of their background, should have the opportunity to pursue their passions and interests. As a former teacher, I understand how music can serve as a creative outlet for young people to express themselves, and Community MusicWorks has done incredible work to expand access to music education and the arts for all Rhode Islanders,” said Rep. Seth Magaziner (RI-02).

“As we work to expand opportunities for young people to develop and grow their passion for the arts, I thank Community MusicWorks for their decades of service to Rhode Island,” said Rep. Gabe Amo (RI-01). “Congratulations on their brand-new space that will expand the positive reach in our community, support creative voices, and bolster music education for future generations.”

CMW purchased the lot at 1326 Westminster Street in 2017 and broke ground on the project in spring of 2022. With students slated to begin string lessons on site by mid-September, the new Community MusicWorks Center features teaching and practice rooms, administrative offices, a cafe that will eventually be open to the public, and, for the first time in the organization’s history, a designated performance hall.

“For nearly 30 years, Community MusicWorks has been a cornerstone in shaping the lives of Providence students and families,” said Mayor Brett P. Smiley. “I am grateful that our city has partners like Community MusicWorks who foster a culture or creativity and inclusivity in Providence and utilize music and community to open up new opportunities for every member of our community.”

Funding for the project came from a record $15 million capital campaign, including ARPA funds through the City of Providence, Cultural Facilities Bond funds administered through the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, ARP funds administered through Rhode Island Housing, and New Markets Tax Credits from the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation. The center’s design was conceived through a series of planning charrettes with CMW students, parents, alumni, musicians, and community members, and a thoughtful focus on sustainability. It is only the second building in Rhode Island to use a Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) technique that reduces the need for carbon-emitting steel and concrete.

The public is invited to tour the building and celebrate this milestone at a free community celebration on Saturday, September 28. Doors will open at 2 p.m., followed by a world-premiere by composer Wang Lu, which includes a student procession and performance from the old space to the new at 3 p.m.

Join us!
CMW Center Grand Opening Block Party
Saturday, September 28, 2:00-7:00 pm
1326 Westminster Street, Providence.
Admission is free; Make your reservation here.

We’re grateful to our partners, who helped to bring this project to life:

James Comer
Deputy Executive Director, RIHousing
“RIHousing is proud to have provided critical funding for the Community MusicWorks Center, a multi-use facility that replaces a vacant, blighted piece of property in Providence’s West End. CMW’s Center will act as a community space for the neighborhood and a destination for those living in and around the city, its impact extending far beyond its walls. We are dedicated to continuing to invest in projects like this that, along with building more affordable housing, are integral to community revitalization across Rhode Island.”

Moddie Turay
President and CEO, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation
“The New Markets Tax Credit Program aims to empower low-income communities by attracting new investments and revitalizing neighborhoods. With its strong presence and longstanding relationships in the West End of Providence, Community MusicWorks has established itself as a respected local partner. Now, with the space to grow, they can further enhance their role as a good neighbor. CMW embodies the type of organization we seek to support, and we are excited to see them leverage these tax credits to create an inclusive and dynamic environment for creativity.”

Barbara Sokoloff
President, Barabara Sokoloff Associates, Inc.
“We are excited to bring financing to such an innovative, sustainable design.”

Kyna Leski
Principal, 3SIX0 Architecture
“Community MusicWorks shared a quote from Maxine Greene that serves as a guiding principle for their organization: ‘I am what I am not yet.’ Those words were an inspiration for our team as we sought to create a design that evoked an ethos of promise. From the unfinished rawness of exposed mass timber walls, beams and columns, pipes and conduits, to the mix of sheathing and exposed framing of the faceted acoustic panels in the performance hall, our architectural goals were to create a space that the community could call ‘home’ and that left open the opportunity to grow and evolve in unexpected ways.”

Alban Bassuet
Principal, Arup
“We’re proud to help realize CMW’s new home that can better support its vital mission to ensure music education for all. To create a top-notch environment for learning and performance, Arup brought the state-of-the-art acoustics design and venue planning for quality sound insulation and managing the unique properties of mass timber for music and Providence’s first mass timber building.”

Jonsara Ruth
Co-founder and Design Director, Healthy Materials Lab
Associate Professor of Interior Design at Parsons School of Design
“A healthy building is particularly important for children because it is now understood that environmental exposures can be a powerful determinant of health and human development. We are proud to partner with Community MusicWorks and 3SIX0 Architects on the new center, which both prioritizes the health of the community and inspires creativity for students.”

Tom Ardito
Director of the SNEP Watershed Implementation Grants program, a partnership between EPA New England and Restore America’s Estuaries, which funded stormwater management aspects of the building
“With this new Music Center, Community Music Works has established a space that will truly serve this wonderful organization, its constituents and the community. Most remarkable from our perspective is that CMW went beyond the requirements of a great concert and teaching space, to create a building that will be not just a cultural resource, but an environmental asset as well.  The Southeast New England Program is pleased to support this project for its positive impacts on clean water, climate mitigation, and in fostering a sustainable, creative and equitable community in Providence.”

Learn more about the CMW Center here.

Photos by Rebecca Atwood/Atomic Clock

“Everywhere you turn on this project, there’s a small challenge.”

 While workers put finishing touches on the new CMW Center, Sebastian took a walkthrough with Pezzuco Construction representatives Ron Pezzuco and Doug Valcourt to chat about materials and features of the soon-to-be-opened project at 1326 Westminster Street.

Providence-based architecture firm 3SIX0 designed the Community MusicWorks Center to be constructed out of mass timber, only the second building in Rhode Island to be using the material as the structure of a building. The building reduces carbon-emitting steel and concrete production by using Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) as the structure. The CLT used in this project was made from gluing together 5 layers of spruce wood and was manufactured in Austria.

CMW, together with 3SIX0 and Pezzuco Construction, worked closely with Healthy Materials Lab, a design research lab at Parsons School of Design, with the goal of making a pioneering, healthy, low-embodied carbon center in the heart of the West End. All building materials and furnishings were evaluated to minimize the presence of toxins known to contribute to childhood disease.

The entire team, from planning to placement of each carefully considered element, has met any challenge in service of a healthy, light-and-music-filled place that our students, neighbors, and friends can call home.

Save the date: The Community MusicWorks Center Grand Opening Celebration is on Saturday, September 28, and we can’t wait to welcome you!

Video by Atomic Clock

We’re putting the finishing touches on the new Community MusicWorks Center and getting ready to move in! We look forward to celebrating this new space with you with food, fun, tours of the new building, and of course, music!

Stay tuned for more details.

Save the Date: CMW Center Grand Opening Celebration!
Saturday, September 28
1326 Westminster Street, Providence

“It’s a learning experience for me, not only in construction but in community.”

Construction has entered another exciting phase as workers shape and outfit the interior spaces of the Community MusicWorks Center. Take a peek inside as CMW student and board member Dayana quizzes Pezzuco Construction owner Ron Pezzuco with key questions about the building’s finish date and what kind of sandwich he hopes to see featured in our café.

Learn more about the Community MusicWorks Center here.
Enjoy photos of the interior-in-progress.