Small Business, Big Sound: Growing a Music Community in the Deerfield Valley

By Ian Campbell, Executive Director, Friends of Historic Memorial Hall and  DFV Rotarian

Every musician you’ve ever loved started with somebody who showed them where to put their fingers.

I’ve been a working musician in Vermont for the past few years, and I recently took on the role of Executive Director for Friends of Memorial Hall, a performing arts organization based in Wilmington.

As I’ve become more involved in the community, I’ve been hearing the same thing over and over: people in the Deerfield Valley are looking for local music teachers, but they’re nearly impossible to find.

Picture a nine-year-old who just heard a fiddle for the first time and can’t stop talking about it. A 35-year-old who’s wanted to play guitar since high school. A 50-something trombonist who wants to move from intermediate to advanced.

They all want lessons, and they want them close by.

It’s not that people won’t drive to Brattleboro or Bennington. They often just can’t. They’ve got kids in sports and school activities, jobs, and schedules already stretched thin.

An hour round trip for a 30-minute lesson every week isn’t a pleasant connection to music for most people. It’s a burden. So the lessons don’t happen, and the desire fades away.

But I believe there are music teachers in the Valley who just aren’t teaching here—at least not yet. And I believe teachers from outside the Valley would be willing to come here if they knew they had a solid roster of students.

I’ve been a Rotarian for over ten years, and I’ve realized that one thing we all have in common is that when we see a problem, we see an opportunity for a solution. So I started working on one.

Introducing DV Music Lessons

Through Friends of Memorial Hall, we’re working to develop the Deerfield Valley as a cultural hub in Southern Vermont. As part of that effort, we’ve launched DV Music Lessons, a free matchmaking service connecting music teachers with students of all ages.

And I mean actually free. We don’t take commissions, charge listing fees, or impose hidden costs on either side. Teachers set their own rates and schedules, and they keep every dollar they earn. We simply connect students with teachers who meet their needs.

Arts Development Is Economic Development

Musicians and music teachers are small businesses. Most are one-person operations that would love a steady student base but lack the time or budget to market themselves. DV Music Lessons helps them make those connections at no cost.

A teacher who fills a few weekly slots gains more stable income. A teacher from outside the Valley might make the drive for a half-day of back-to-back lessons if we’ve helped find the students. We’ll even help find space to hold those lessons.

And there’s a bigger picture. Every student who picks up an instrument is a future bandmate, audience member, open mic regular, or performer on the stage at Memorial Hall and beyond.

The only way to build a thriving music community is to teach people to play music. The more connections we create, here and across the region, the stronger our communities become.

Here’s Where We’re Starting

I’d love to tell you we already have a long list of teachers and a waiting list of students ready to get started. We don’t—at least not yet.

We launched earlier this summer and have been spreading the word, encouraging teachers and students to join the platform so we can begin making those connections.

And Here’s How You Can Help

Do you know a music teacher? Any instrument, any level. Maybe someone who’s never thought of themselves as a teacher, or someone who teaches in another town and might be willing to come to the Valley for a few more students.

Send them to dvmusiclessons.com or have them email friends@friendsofthehallvt.org, and we’ll walk them through it.

Rotarians have always been people who see a gap in their community and find a way to fill it. This is a small one, and you can help close it with a single introduction.