Lexington nonprofit provides free music lessons to low-income students

LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — A local nonprofit hosted an open house Friday at its new location here in Lexington.

Central Music Academy provides free music lessons to kids who can’t afford them. They typically serve between 100 and 120 students a semester from Fayette and surrounding counties.

CMA started looking for a new space in January.

Their new location, on Eagle View Lane, was previously a medical clinic. A perfect layout for individual rehearsal spaces, according to CMA.

“We have eight different rooms that we can use lessons in simultaneously. So we have all these little teaching studios where we can have a cello lesson happening at the same time as a voice lesson. At the same time, we can have percussion lessons happening in the basement. So, it will allow us to serve a lot more students now that we’re in a new space,” Central Music Academy Executive Director Emily Walker Bliss said.

CMA’s next project will be building a stage in the basement of their new building for group rehearsals and concerts.

Children between 8 and 18 are eligible for free lessons based on the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) lower-income household levels as our income threshold. In Fayette County, a family of four must make less than $60,400 annually to qualify for free lessons.

For more information about the group or to schedule a tour of the new facility, check out this story on our website.