Why Music Lessons?: With so many activities to fit in, so many demands on childrens' time, this is a question asked by many parents. What exactly is to be gained for the average child who is unlikely to become a professional musician or follow a career in music? The answer is that music lessons can play a very important role in your child's general development. Playing an instrument, right from the earliest stages, involves many skills - visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic. Unlike many specialized activities, playing an instrument helps develop both sides of the brain at the same time, increasing both intellectual functions and physical coordination, patience and confidence. They aid the child's emotional development by providing an outlet for self-expression. So, music lessons are an enormously valuable educational influence as well as an introduction to the wonderful world of music, and Yes, they are fun! At Music in Chappaqua, we believe the rewards are priceless - and they are for life.
Who We Are: Music in Chappaqua began in 1993, with students taking piano lessons in Janet Angier's basement apartment on King Street. With Janet's dedicated approach, patience and enthusiasm, the number of her students grew. She then found other talented, wonderful teachers, and by word of mouth, Music in Chappaqua grew even more. Today, the school boasts over 250 students and teaches a variety of different instruments to all age groups. In June 2002, Music in Chappaqua opened a beautiful new school in downtown Chappaqua. Each studio in the school is equipped with the best Steinway & Sons grand piano and the latest computer hardware and software, all designed to enhance the learning process. Music in Chappaqua designed a school where children will want to come, to work hard, to play and to surround themselves with other talented and hardworking students and teachers. The studios are cutting edge, exciting, a piece of modern culture, art, architecture and design. What better forum could there be for the development of a budding artist? Finally, music lessons have been brought into the new millennium.
What We Believe: A music education is an essential element in a child's development and not just the ability to play an instrument. While not many children are destined to become professional musicians, it is a great asset to be able to sit down with an instrument and amuse oneself, and maybe others - a pleasure that lasts a lifetime. Moreover, there is the cultural value and the civilizing influence of growing up with music - a return to social values, beauty, the good in life. This is what we teach at Music in Chappaqua, not simply the notes!

Janet Angier-Director Music in Chappaqua

Best known in Westchester as the founder and director of Music in Chappaqua, the very successful and multi-faceted school of music, Janet has an enterprising background beginning with her graduation in performance with honors from the New England Conservatory of Music, continuing with engagements with the Taiwan National Symphony and the Vienna Symphonietta, among others. But she has perhaps found her real niche as an organizer and inspirer of the many musical activities of young people, typified by her innovative and ambitious approach to programming.

Cello Lessons

Amali Premawardhana

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Amali Premawardhana, cellist and graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, currently enjoys a career as a classical orchestral and chamber musician. Her primary teachers while in school were Julia Lichten and Margo Tatgenhorst-Drakos, and she has taken part in chamber music workshops and festivals such as the Tanglewood Institute, the Mannes Beethoven Institute, and the New York String Orchestra Seminar. Amali has had the privilege to perform in master classes with extraordinary cellists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Ron Leonard and Matt Haimovitz. Her performing career has taken her to major venues in New York City to major concert halls across the United States, Western Europe and South Asia. Amali currently performs with alice., a seven-piece jazz chamber ensemble, Akshara, a Carnatic percussion and string ensemble, and recently has performed with the Broadway tour of South Pacific. Currently, she co-leads her own ensemble called Karavika, which seeks to blend Western chamber music with the complex traditions of India and Sri Lanka. She performs frequently with groups such as the New England Symphonic Ensemble and the Distinguished Concerts International New York Orchestra, both of which perform regularly at Carnegie Hall. As a teacher she is on faculty at the Harlem School of the Arts and Music in Chappaqua, as well as prestigious Kinhaven Music School during the summer. Amali enjoys an exciting performance and teaching schedule in the New York City area, and believes that one of the most rewarding benefits of playing music comes from being able to teach it to others.