Building Community Through Music

Students at the annual Youth Summer Chamber Music recital.

Music gives a soul to the universe...
and life to everything"

Plato

Our Story

A collage of string instruments played by NCMC students and faculty.

Founded in 1986, the Northampton Community Music Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster the love and pursuit of music within our community through quality education, performances and activities that are accessible to all. The Music Center was founded on the principle that music education is fundamental to the human experience and an essential part of childhood development. With the passage of Proposition 2 1/2, many arts education programs in Northampton’s public schools were dismantled, and NCMC grew out of that need and the desire of parents in our community to continue to have access to comprehensive, quality music education for their children.

A collage of percussion instruments played by NCMC students and faculty.

Today, NCMC serves people of all ages, abilities, and financial backgrounds. Over the decades since its founding, NCMC has never turned a student away for lack of funds, because everyone should have access to the healing power of music! In FY 2025, we provided over $70,000 in scholarships to more than 230 local music students. Our financial aid program, is funded by individuals, businesses and foundations alike.

A collage of wind instruments played by NCMC students and faculty.

Our Building

The Northampton Community Music Center is located at 139 South Street in Northampton. The building NCMC occupies was erected in 1891 as the South Street Elementary School, which was in operation for 90 years, closing as a result of budget cuts brought about by Proposition 2 1/2.

In 1998, the Music Center entered into a lease with the City of Northampton for occupancy of the building, simultaneously launching a two-phase capital campaign to bring the building up to code and renovate its first and second floors, providing the organization with 12 teaching studios, a recital hall, and two wheelchair lifts. In 2012, NCMC completed a third capital campaign for further renovations to its lower level, adding two additional teaching studios, a second recital hall, and a recording studio. NCMC received a Preservation Award from the Northampton Historical Commission and in 2019 purchased the property from the City of Northampton. In 2021, an anonymous donor paid off NCMC's mortgage, relieving NCMC of its remaining debt.

NCMC acknowledges that our organization inhabits land that was forcibly seized from Indigenous peoples. Our region remains the homeland of the Nipmuck Indians, whose descendants live among us and are part of our community. We believe it is our responsibility to honor their presence and history. An annual contribution is made by NCMC to the Chaubunagungamaug Band of Nipmuck Indians as a form of reparations.