The Catskill Mountain Foundation is weighing whether to create a year-round music school in Hunter after about 30 people attended a town hall and more than 100 people responded to an online survey.
Residents gathered May 20 at the Doctorow Center for the Arts to discuss the proposal, offer suggestions and ask questions about what a music school could bring to the mountaintop.
Ken Skrzesz, a Shokan-based independent business consultant hired by the foundation, led the meeting. He is overseeing an assessment meant to determine whether there is enough local interest and support for the foundation to move forward.
The community was invited to weigh in through the town hall and an online survey, which remained open until 5 p.m. May 22. Amy Schiebe, executive director of the Catskill Mountain Foundation, said the goal was to determine whether residents want the school and, if so, what kind of programming would best serve the community.
“Do it right once or don’t do it at all,” Schiebe said. The foundation hopes to create something based on what locals desire, she added, “not what we want them to desire.”
More than 100 responses to the survey were submitted, Schiebe said.
Those who spoke at the town hall were broadly supportive, with no opposition voiced during the meeting. Much of the discussion centered on prompts Skrzesz projected onstage, including one that asked why residents or their family members might choose to participate in a music school.
Some comments were practical. Shannon Sambrook, a music teacher at Hunter-Tannersville Central School, said the lack of a mountaintop business that repairs musical instruments could be a barrier for students.
Others spoke about the role music can play in a community. Phyllis Lamhut, a Platte Clove resident and choreographer, spoke about the connection between music, the mind and the body.
When listening to music, she said, “the heart is beating, the brain is only waiting.”
With early music instruction, Lamhut added, “you have to be sensitive and have a sense of humor, because you might not like the sound you are hearing.”
Schiebe said discussions about a music school began shortly after she became executive director of the foundation in January. The idea grew partly out of conversations about how to build audiences for the foundation’s other programming.
“When I first got there we were talking about ways to improve attendance for the classical music programs and the Piano Museum,” Schiebe said. “And the best way to build an audience is to offer them education in the thing that would bring them joy.”
Schiebe, who is an advisory board member for The Overlook, said the foundation already has a significant collection of pianos. It also operates the three-screen Mountaintop Cinema, located inside the Doctorow Center.
“We have pianos in literally every cinema and space,” Schiebe said. “This would be a natural place for people to come and play.”
The foundation hosts the Academy of Fortepiano Performance each late spring. This year’s session runs from May 30 to June 8. Foundation leaders said a music school could expand that work to other instruments and year-round instruction.
If the proposal moves forward, initial classes could begin by summer 2027, with additional offerings added that fall.
By the end of the meeting, the discussion had returned to one of the practical concerns raised earlier in the evening: instrument repair. Attendees suggested that the skills needed to repair instruments could become part of the school’s programming.
Lex Sottile is a contributing writer. Send correspondence to reporting@theoverlooknews.com.