Mission:
Our mission is to enrich lives and build community by providing inspiring music education and by offering performance and listening opportunities.
Guiding Principles:
- Create a comfortable, open and friendly environment for music students, faculty, performers and audiences.
- Throughout the year, provide high-quality, affordable, inspiring music education suitable for the wide-ranging interests of our community.
- Offer excellent performance and listening opportunities for all who value music.
- Build and maintain an effective team to support a creative and financially sustainable school.
- Be good stewards of our historic property.
What we do:
Mountain Top Music Center is a community music school located in Conway, New Hampshire. Our mission is to enrich lives and build community by providing inspiring music education and by offering performance and listening opportunities throughout the area. We use music to build community through group study and performance, shared listening, and mutually respectful, inter-generational, multi-cultural musical communication. More than 350 people participate in our lessons, classes, workshops, and community ensembles each year. We offer progressive, coordinated music education to students of all ages. For children we provide developmentally appropriate instruction aimed at nurturing the means for music expression. We offer adults a way to begin or extend their musical skills and expertise.
Mountain Top Music Center presents a variety of concerts bringing the work of our students, community ensembles, and faculty to the community. We also present professional musicians and ensembles, sometimes in collaboration with other non-profit organizations. Recognizing strong potential for growth in this area, MTMC successfully led a capital campaign to renovate Conway’s long-neglected Bolduc Block and Majestic Theatre into teaching and performing space. Since 2021 we have operated the renovated theatre as a prominent regional performance venue. In 2022 we added a 50-seat café-style venue for more intimate performances. We continually strive to link our communities of students, performers, and listeners, seeking to expand where possible through providing inspiring performing arts experiences.
Mary Bastoni – Voice and musical theatre
Bruce Berquist – Songwriting, musicology, music technology & business
Audrey Collins – piano, voice
Chad Cummings – Guitar, piano, electric bass
Chris Dzengelewski – Drum set, ensembles
Fabio Gutierrez – Double bass (standing bass), electric bass, ensembles
Joe Hillyard – Trombone
Julia Howell – Director of Education; Viola, violin, composition
Jenny Huang-Dale – Cello, violin, viola
Meghan Kelleher – Voice, piano
Chris Nourse – Violin, viola
Elizabeth Roth – Voice, harp
Mike Sakash – Saxophone, clarinet, flute
Pat Sarracco – Trumpet
David Trooper – Saxophone, improvisation, music theory
Riley Waygood – Children’s music
George Wiese – Executive Director; Piano, trombone, musicology
George Wiese – Executive Director
Julia Howell – Director of Education, A/V Manager
Kate Vachon – Office Manager, Registrar
Hunter Sky – Tech Director
Dave Mason – Treasurer
Linda Vienneau – Bookkeeper
Frank Benesh, Treasurer
Lois Burleigh Vice Chair
Sara Demos
Judith English
Jonathan Goodwin
Deb Goulding
Kathryn Keene
Sarah Kimball, secretary
Mona L’Heureux
Jeanne Mason
Dave Mason, Chair
Ray Mitchell
Becky Mulkern
Laura Riggs-Mitchell
Nora Schwarz
Patricia Van Doren Dunn, Emerita
Amy Berrier
Rachael Brown
Bob Carper
Karen Carr
Nancy Cassidy
Ian Cruickshank
Dana Cunningham
Dr. Therese Davison
Penny Deans
Sara Demos
Susan Dugdale
Susan Ferré
Melissa Garvey
Betsey Harding
Al Hospers
John Howell
Sarah Isberg
Kathryn Karlsson
Kathy Keene
Julie Levine
Gail F. Paine
Lynn Parkhurst
Heather Pierson/Shawn Nadeau
Carol Rosenblith
Les Schoof
Ashara Stansfield
Linda Walker