The Music Studio Atlanta, a large privately owned music school that provides lessons for a wide range of instruments, is opening a third location in Alpharetta in the coming weeks.
Founder Cecilia Rowe opened her first studio in Vinings in 2011 and a second in East Cobb in 2022.
The Music Studio Atlanta offers both in-studio and at-home lessons for all ages and experience levels in piano, voice, guitar, ukulele, strings, woodwinds, and drums. The studio offers 45 lessons over the course of the year, with monthly tuition rates. Contact the studio directly for details on preschool and in-home lesson pricing.
The Alpharetta studio’s lobby is already open for visitors to stop by, enjoy coffee, and learn more about programs. Full operations are expected to begin in late fall, and student registration is open.
Most students are beginners, Rowe said. Some are adults who return to music after having played an instrument during childhood.
“You want to get teary when a 50-year-old dad starts singing opera,” Rowe said. “The confidence he feels is just so tremendous.”
Rowe added that she has a client who is a vocalist and guitarist and performs live music at local venues, but wants to learn a new genre of music: jazz.
A pianist herself, Rowe says music has always been part of her life. She was named after Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music.
Her paternal grandfather and uncle were movie theater organists in the U.K. during the 1920s and ’30s, performing songs during intermissions that audiences would sing along to. Her father earned a degree in music theory before becoming a banker and entrepreneur, and her mother was a pianist who passed along her love of teaching.
After Rowe moved to Atlanta in 1989, her mother began offering piano lessons at the homes of local families, and Rowe began teaching students on the waitlist. The business grew into Courtnay & Rowe In-Home Music Academy as her father, sister, and husband came on board and the family opened physical locations.
Eventually, Rowe bought her family’s share, and The Music Studio Atlanta became the permanent moniker.
Today, many students still take weekly in-home lessons, while others study in one of the studio’s brick-and-mortar locations.
Licensed music therapists in the studio’s music therapy division work with students who have developmental disabilities or loss of motor skills due to such medical events as a stroke.
“You’ve lost functionality with your hand, and so you are trying to learn piano or guitar to facilitate your therapy,” Rowe said. “We are adapting the lesson to whatever the needs are that you have … I love it. This way, we can be inclusive for everyone with lessons.”
Rowe said the teaching philosophy centers on joy and encouragement over perfection.
At the studio’s open mic events, teachers often join nervous students onstage if they forget a lyric or lose their rhythm. “We just start again,” Rowe said. “The idea is to make it a good experience.”
That approach has transformed students like EmmaLee, a shy young pianist who once clung to her mother during recitals but gained more confidence after each event, leading to solo performances that included singing and playing piano at The Strand Theatre, Rowe said.
“She gets up there and knocks it out of the park, all by herself on stage,” Rowe said. “It’s very typical when there’s no pressure but plenty of opportunity.”
In addition to teaching, Rowe authored a book titled “Don’t Miss Your Child’s Musical Window,” a guide for parents seeking to nurture their children’s musical interests. The book covers practical tips such as how to choose the right instrument, select a teacher, and recognize a child’s readiness.
“It’s definitely a resource for families who are looking to start their kids in music and don’t know where to start,” Rowe said.
For. more information on The Music Studio Atlanta visit the center’s website.
