Children’s Music Workshop
is Lexington’s premier music program for children from birth to age 9. Featured in the Lexington Herald-Leader, Lexington Family, and on WKYT-TV, Children’s Music Workshop has been praised for its innovative curriculum and creative teaching approaches, based on the most up-to-date research connecting early music learning with enriched cognitive development. Classes incorporate a wide variety of stimulating and imaginative musical experiences – songs and chants from around the world, creative movement and dance, instrument playing, storytelling, and improvisation – which have been chosen to cultivate a love of music and provide a foundation for future musical study. From instrument petting zoos at the Lexington Philharmonic to special programs at the Explorium, Children’s Music Workshop is known throughout the region for the high quality of its children’s programming. We are committed to community outreach, and through a Community Arts Development Grant sponsored by the Lexington Arts and Cultural Council, we collaborated with the Explorium to bring a series of music classes to the Family Care Center. Our classes meet once a week at Central Christian Church in downtown Lexington and are limited to a maximum of 10 children.
Beth Ellen is a children's music specialist and pianist who founded Children's Music Workshop in 1995. She holds performance degrees from Juilliard and Oberlin, and has been on the teaching faculties of Juilliard, the Chapin School, the United Nations International School and Brooklyn College Preparatory Center for the Arts. She received the Mastership Certification in early childhood music and music learning theory from Temple University, and has trained extensively in the teaching methods of Orff Schulwerk, Kodaly and Dalcroze Eurhythmics. She has given seminars at Wellesley College, the Longy School of Music, and the Early Childhood Music and Movement Association. She has been invited to give teacher-training workshops at the University of Kentucky, Providence Montessori, and the Bluegrass Association for the Education of Young Children. She has presented children's music programs for the Lexington Philharmonic and Mayfest.
Beth Ellen is the recipient of an Artist Grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women to develop an outreach program in music education for at-risk families. She is a cofounder of Salem Music, a summer chamber music festival in Connecticut. She works as a freelance opera accompanist for the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre, and most recently performed in the production of "Brundibar." Beth Ellen is on the faculty of Lexington Montessori School.
