MyTown Music

Clap! Corey’s hands smack loudly together, gaining the attention of the group.
“Do you remember the chords?” a student asks.

“Yes I do,” he replies, smiling. “It’s 'cause I have a memory of an elephant!” he laughs.
Corey grabs his guitar and begins to play. “B over D sharp, A, long A” he sings along.

Every Friday, Corey Ferrugia, 25, teaches this Pusch Ridge Christian Academy student group, called “EverbeaT.” It is part of MyTown Music, a tuition-based music school he founded back in 2009 in response to losing his job as a music instructor at Collier Elementary School.

Remembering how music lit up his students’ faces, Ferrugia was determined to keep the kids’ musical passion alive despite city budget and school program cuts and losing his job.

He spent the next year designing MyTown and launched it last summer.

“It’s one thing to fill a void [in schools], but it’s really to use that void and do something brand new. MyTown empowers both music and musicians,” Corey stresses.

Today, MyTown is empowering musicians at six different campuses: Brichta Elementary School, Fruchthendler Elementary School, Green Fields Country Day School, Pusch Ridge Christian Academy, Tucson Children’s Museum and Tucson Country Day School.

It hosts three different programs throughout the year, in the spring, summer and fall. Currently, it’s in its spring semester and enrollment ends in March.

In each program, a three-core curriculum is stressed.

“We have knowledge and aptitude, performance, and recording and composition,” Ferrugia says.

Ferrugia explains that the knowledge component involves students learning music theory, history and appreciation. Performance involves them learning how to play one to two instruments while composition and recording involves the students creating their original works and compositions.

At the end of each program, the students can capture what they learn and perform it at a showcase.

“The showcase looks like (around 12) kids performing alongside their instructors. We play every song they worked on. About 125 to 130 people show up and the students receive really great reactions. Parents are blown away and actually entertained in addition to (providing) support.”  

MyTown’s curriculum can be taught through private and group sessions. Each campus hosts one to three group sessions per week. Sessions are two hours long and consist of about 12 students. Groups vary between ages, some as young as three to as old as 18.

“It’s not just age though, it’s mainly skill,” Corey elucidates. “Some are in foundation (or beginner) groups and some kids had more [music] opportunities, so they play in more advanced groups.”

Group sessions have students playing together, almost like playing in a pop band, Corey smiles.
It is this aspect that attracts parents like Tyler Shepperd, 43.

“Playing music in a group is different than playing by yourself and learning how to play in a group is what my son needed at the time,” Tyler said. “I would love to see my kid gain enough understanding of how a music group works, to take that knowledge and be able to lead a group or help groups come together. MyTown teaches kids how to play in one and understand where they fit in.”

Tyler’s son, Christian, also loves playing in a group. “I love getting a song together and noticing people click. It sounds really good, like a real band.”

Corey happily shares that this experience may not be limited to the kids. In fact, MyTown is considering launching a program for adults in the near future.

Corey also hopes to expand outside of the Tucson area. The program has nibblers in Scottsdale, New York City and Los Angeles, he shares.

Right now, the MyTown staff is focusing on finishing-up their spring semester and preparing for their summer program, which will be similar to last year’s, with three different camps and sessions ranging from one to four weeks. Each camp will be about six hours long every weekday.

And no matter what semester you choose to enroll your child in, MyTown will continue to teach its core principles and give them the most rewarding experience.

“No matter what group session or age, we give them the reward of music,” Corey enthuses.

For more information, visit MyTownMusic.com or call 955-9338.