New Music School Opens In Fremont

The California Conservatory of Music has opened a Fremont location, adding a third Bay Area campus for a school that says it has operated since 2011. The new site is at 3890 Mowry Ave., Suite 200, according to the school’s website. The conservatory is offering one-on-one lessons in piano, guitar, violin and voice, and says it is enrolling students of all ages and skill levels. Fremont Patch listed the opening among its local business items this week. Christopher Mallett and Robert Miller, the conservatory’s owners and directors, are expanding from existing campuses in Sunnyvale and Redwood City. The school says it has served Bay Area families for more than 15 years and now lists Fremont alongside its other locations. The company’s materials describe the Fremont opening as a way to serve students from Fremont, Newark, Union City, Milpitas and Warm Springs. (thecaliforniaconservatory.com) ### Where is the new Fremont school, and what is it offering? The Fremont campus is located at 3890 Mowry Ave., Suite 200, in Fremont, California, according to the conservatory’s location page. The school says the site is now open and accepting new students. It is advertising private instruction in piano, guitar, violin and voice, with a free trial lesson for prospective families. (thecaliforniaconservatory.com) The Fremont page says lessons are designed for children taking a first class as well as advanced students preparing for recitals, exams and auditions. The school also says its teachers are university-trained and that instruction is offered one-on-one. ### Who runs the conservatory? Robert Miller and Christopher Mallett own and operate the California Conservatory of Music, the school’s website says. (thecaliforniaconservatory.com) The conservatory says the two first met in 2009 while teaching at the Longay Conservatory of Guitar and later founded the California Conservatory of Guitar in Santa Clara in May 2011. The school says it reopened in fall 2017 as the California Conservatory of Music as it broadened beyond guitar instruction. (thecaliforniaconservatory.com) In 2016, the school opened a Redwood City location, according to its history page. The Fremont site extends that footprint farther into the East Bay. ### What does the school say sets its teaching apart? The conservatory says its approach combines a “positive and motivational environment,” regular practice and what it calls first-rate musical instruction. On its main website, the school says students work toward “monthly music practice challenges,” advancement through lesson books and an annual graduation concert. (thecaliforniaconservatory.com) It says those recurring milestones help keep students engaged. The school also says students are invited to performances, group classes and ensemble work in addition to private lessons. Those opportunities, according to the conservatory, are intended to give students goals beyond weekly instruction. ### How large is the organization now? The conservatory says it began as the California Conservatory of Guitar and grew to serve more than 200 families with 10 teachers and two staff members. (thecaliforniaconservatory.com) Its current website lists faculty across violin, voice and other disciplines, though it does not provide a single updated headcount for the full organization. The Fremont launch gives the school three listed campuses: Fremont, Sunnyvale and Redwood City. (thecaliforniaconservatory.com) The company says it serves students from across the Bay Area and offers both in-person and online lessons. ### What happens next for families interested in signing up? The Fremont campus is now enrolling, and the school says families can schedule a free introductory lesson through its website. (thecaliforniaconservatory.com) The conservatory lists a Fremont phone number of 510-903-7598 for inquiries. Its Fremont page says staff can answer questions and help reserve spots for lessons. The school’s next step in Fremont is straightforward: build out its student roster at the new site while offering private lessons and related classes under the same model it uses in Sunnyvale and Redwood City. (thecaliforniaconservatory.com) As of this week, the Fremont location page was live and accepting signups. (thecaliforniaconservatory.com)