In Detroit and Southeast Michigan

We've expanded music education and music therapy offerings to children, youth, and families in Southeast Michigan as part of MSU's effort to share faculty expertise and resources with the region's residents.


MSU Community Music School - Detroit – Music education and music therapy programs are offered in the heart of Detroit’s cultural corridor at 3408 Woodward Avenue. For more information, call (313) 578-9716 or visit www.cms.msu.edu/detroit.

CMS Detroit programs include:

  • Aspiring Musicians Program (AMP) and AMP Summer Camp -- Detroit youth between the ages of 9 and 13 participated in the first-ever Aspiring Musicians Program at the MSU Community Music School-Detroit. Students learned new instrumental skills, ensemble playing, theory/ear training, and music history throughout the school year, then continued their learning at the AMP Summer Camp. Through music, AMP seeks to strengthen the lives of vulnerable youth by nurturing higher level skills such as commitment, problem solving, and teamwork. Click below to watch.
  • Early Childhood Music Education and PNC Bank Free Early Childhood Music Workshops – Through the generosity of PNC Bank, CMS-Detroit presented a series of twelve free workshops for the “under six set” at Detroit Public Schools’ Parent Resource Centers. Families learned about the benefits of exposure to music in early childhood, when the vast majority of brain growth occurs, and how musical play helps develop tonal and rhythmic awareness as well as physical, interpersonal, and language domains. 
  • Music Therapy – CMS-Detroit offers music therapy clinical services to individuals and groups with special needs. Clients have included children from the Coalition for Temporary Shelter, young adult men with Autism Spectrum Disorder from the Detroit Public Schools’ Transitions Center East, juvenile patients from St. John’s Hospital and Children's Hospital, Children's Center, and many others.
  • MSU Jazz @ CMS-Detroit – MSU College of Music jazz faculty and student mentors share their knowledge with Detroit youth each week. Teens perform classics from the American jazz repertoire including the music of Sonny Rollins, Thad Jones, and Fats Waller, and many more.