About
The Saint Paul Conservatory of Music (Laurel School of Music) offers music lessons, including private music lessons, partnered lessons, group classes, and a Suzuki program. Students can take strings, flute, recorder, and guitar instruction, participate in chamber music, choirs, adult ensembles, and early childhood and family opportunities, and join the Contemporary Music program. The program also offers Summer Music Camp, the Saint Paul Chamber Music Institute (SPCMI), Early Music Day, student and faculty recitals, the Coffee Concert series, concerts, workshops, and other events.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: The Saint Paul Chamber Music Institute (SPCMI) is an immersive two-week chamber music program and festival for college and pre-college string players.
For over 15 years, the monthly Coffee Concert series has delivered performances. The SPCM provides high-quality, innovative music education and performance experiences to students of all ages, abilities, cultures, backgrounds, and income levels, for the enrichment of the entire community. Music lessons are taught by professional musicians who are also inspiring teachers, and the Contemporary Music program employs exceptional teaching artists who combine deep knowledge and experience of musical education with their experience as accomplished performers. At Early Music Day, nationally known artists lead vocal and instrument ensembles.
The SPCM is a non-profit music school that offers high quality music education, rich musical experiences, and community in the heart of St. Paul, MN. Its Music for All program provides access to musical education and performance, and financial aid is available on a sliding scale for high need, high potential students. SPCM faculty perform free, professional concerts for residents of nursing homes and senior living facilities, patients and their families in hospitals, and newly-arrived refugees, and the Coffee Concert series is locally renowned. The Suzuki program is described as vibrant and is dedicated to Dr. Suzuki’s belief that every child can learn to play a musical instrument when provided the right environment. The annual Early Music Day is a one-day workshop each February focused on medieval, Renaissance, or Baroque music. The Contemporary Music program serves students interested in popular music styles, including performance, improvisation, songwriting, and use of technology to record and produce music. The Saint Paul Chamber Music Academy is described as the best chamber music program in the Twin Cities, and the SPCMA Summer Music Camp offers two-week camps for kids who have completed Kindergarten through 6th grade.
The SPCM serves nearly 300 students each year, including over 200 K–8 students in Saint Paul area schools, and holds performances throughout Saint Paul. The Coffee Concert series provides an intellectual and emotional oasis away from rushed and harried daily life. A scholarship recipient from SPCM has gone on to personal and professional success, including in the Protégé International Competition, which brought one SPCM scholarship student to perform solo in Carnegie Hall.
Parent and student comments describe “top notch musicians and educators” and express strong appreciation for the Suzuki program’s director and teachers. One parent of a nine-year-old Suzuki violin student describes a progression from a Kleenex box “violin” to playing with an orchestra and practicing every day by choice. Another Suzuki string parent notes that concerts are “lovely” and that the musicians “share their talent from the heart.” A mother of an eight-year-old violin student reports that her son has grown in confidence, concentration, and musically, and a mother of a 15-year-old guitar student reports that his math grade went from C to A and believes that had a lot to do with coming to the Conservatory. A Coffee Concert audience pair, the Front Row Gang, Jack and Barb Maloney, say they have been enthusiasts for years and describe the programming as exciting and delightful, introducing them to talented, unfamiliar artists and fresh, unexpected music. An adult recorder student named Dave calls a lesson “delightful and inspiring” and describes working on articulation and a new concept of sound as “challenging and fascinating” and “a new horizon in music.”
Last updated June 28, 2026.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: The Saint Paul Chamber Music Institute (SPCMI) is an immersive two-week chamber music program and festival for college and pre-college string players.
For over 15 years, the monthly Coffee Concert series has delivered performances. The SPCM provides high-quality, innovative music education and performance experiences to students of all ages, abilities, cultures, backgrounds, and income levels, for the enrichment of the entire community. Music lessons are taught by professional musicians who are also inspiring teachers, and the Contemporary Music program employs exceptional teaching artists who combine deep knowledge and experience of musical education with their experience as accomplished performers. At Early Music Day, nationally known artists lead vocal and instrument ensembles.
The SPCM is a non-profit music school that offers high quality music education, rich musical experiences, and community in the heart of St. Paul, MN. Its Music for All program provides access to musical education and performance, and financial aid is available on a sliding scale for high need, high potential students. SPCM faculty perform free, professional concerts for residents of nursing homes and senior living facilities, patients and their families in hospitals, and newly-arrived refugees, and the Coffee Concert series is locally renowned. The Suzuki program is described as vibrant and is dedicated to Dr. Suzuki’s belief that every child can learn to play a musical instrument when provided the right environment. The annual Early Music Day is a one-day workshop each February focused on medieval, Renaissance, or Baroque music. The Contemporary Music program serves students interested in popular music styles, including performance, improvisation, songwriting, and use of technology to record and produce music. The Saint Paul Chamber Music Academy is described as the best chamber music program in the Twin Cities, and the SPCMA Summer Music Camp offers two-week camps for kids who have completed Kindergarten through 6th grade.
The SPCM serves nearly 300 students each year, including over 200 K–8 students in Saint Paul area schools, and holds performances throughout Saint Paul. The Coffee Concert series provides an intellectual and emotional oasis away from rushed and harried daily life. A scholarship recipient from SPCM has gone on to personal and professional success, including in the Protégé International Competition, which brought one SPCM scholarship student to perform solo in Carnegie Hall.
Parent and student comments describe “top notch musicians and educators” and express strong appreciation for the Suzuki program’s director and teachers. One parent of a nine-year-old Suzuki violin student describes a progression from a Kleenex box “violin” to playing with an orchestra and practicing every day by choice. Another Suzuki string parent notes that concerts are “lovely” and that the musicians “share their talent from the heart.” A mother of an eight-year-old violin student reports that her son has grown in confidence, concentration, and musically, and a mother of a 15-year-old guitar student reports that his math grade went from C to A and believes that had a lot to do with coming to the Conservatory. A Coffee Concert audience pair, the Front Row Gang, Jack and Barb Maloney, say they have been enthusiasts for years and describe the programming as exciting and delightful, introducing them to talented, unfamiliar artists and fresh, unexpected music. An adult recorder student named Dave calls a lesson “delightful and inspiring” and describes working on articulation and a new concept of sound as “challenging and fascinating” and “a new horizon in music.”
Last updated June 28, 2026.
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