Year one, in the books!

One year ago, on September 9th, 2024, we opened the doors of Green Room Music. The space wasn’t fully finished. We didn’t have all the furniture, the walls were bare, and our instrument collection was pretty thin. Honestly, we didn’t know if any of this would work— or if anyone would even show up.

But you showed up. And it turns out: yes, it works.

What works, exactly? For us, it always comes back to our mission: to build community through music. I landed on that phrase after asking myself a simple question: why do I love music?

Sure, I love the solitude of playing my drum set in the basement. It’s meditative, therapeutic, and restorative. But when I think about what music has really given me throughout my life, I don’t picture practice rooms or classrooms.

I remember joining an impromptu Led Zeppelin jam session as a high school exchange student in Greece. I think about the group text I still have with my best friends, all of whom I met singing in my college a cappella group. And I remember the hours of rehearsals I had, and so much laughter, with my business school bandmates (our band name was MBA Jam, naturally).

Experiences like these are what we want for every student who walks through our doors. Not just the joy and self-expression that comes with playing music, but the friendships, adventures, and confidence that come with being a musician. We want our students to wear that badge proudly and recognize it in others when they meet (or hear) them.

And it’s happening. We see it on our students’ faces when they walk in the door. We see it when they finally nail a phrase they’ve been drilling for weeks. We see it when they play music together. We see it when the applause rises after a performance. It’s been an honor and a joy to witness that growth and we’re so excited to keep it going this year!

Thank you for trusting us, for making music with us, and for showing up.

Thank you for investing in music and art.

Thank you for being a part of our community.

We can’t wait to see what we create together in year two.

Let’s go!

Eugene