Inclusive Raleigh music program offering $1 in-person lessons return to in-person instruction

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- After a year online, Community Music School in Raleigh has returned to in-person instruction at Longleaf School of the Arts.

Community Music School provides instruments and one on one music lessons for just one dollar for nearly 200 low-income students per semester in Wake County. Instructors and students returned with special safety protocols designed specifically for musicians in the pandemic including special masks for singers and protective coverings for woodwind instruments.

Community Music Schools' goal is to remove financial barriers for music lessons.

"We don't believe it should just be for the few but it should be for the many," explained Melanie Doerner, the executive director of Community Music School. "Donations allow us to remove financial barriers so that it's affordable for everyone," she added.

The program proved to be life-changing for Apex native Lanif Azcona and her five siblings. Azcona got her introduction to music through CMS as a teen and is now a rising junior at Berklee College of Music.

"Without them, I wouldn't be pursuing a career in music-I wouldn't think it was possible," Azcona explained."It just gives, it just gives musicians and people who are low income, hope that it's possible."

Azcona plans to be a songwriter, producer, and artist in the music industry. She has started a gofundme and is selling merch and downloads of an original track to help with her tuition.

Community Music School is full for the Fall of 2021 session but will soon open enrollment for Winter.