Sherwood Music School archives collection at Columbia College Chicago | Columbia College Chicago Research | Digital Commons @ Columbia College Chicago

About the Collection

The Sherwood Community Music School at Columbia College Chicago began as the Sherwood Music School in 1895 and has served as a degree-granting institution for musicians, a hub for the students of music distance education, and a community music school offering lessons and programs for musicians of all ages.

History

The renowned, 19th century piano virtuoso, William Hall Sherwood founded the Sherwood Music School in Chicago, Illinois in 1895 within the Fine Arts Building, 410 South Michigan Avenue. With the vision of increasing accessibility to music education in America, Sherwood founded his own school to foster professional musicians. After Sherwood’s death in 1911, his pupil, Georgia Kober became the president. Under her leadership, the school continued to grow and established an Extension Division in 1913 to manage the its correspondence courses throughout the country.

With the addition of the Extension Division, the School affiliated teachers throughout the country to teach the “Sherwood Method” to piano students and the Sherwood Music School was able to implement its education at a broader scale. By 1929, then Vice President Arthur J. Llewelyn accumulated piano lessons, studies, exercises, tests, and compositions into a series of lesson books for varying skill grades. By 1937, a series of Violin Lessons were also written and available for affiliated teachers. As a member of the National Association of Schools of Music, Sherwood Music School (later, Sherwood Conservatory of Music) offered accredited music degrees to its students.

In 1985, the School rebranded itself as the Sherwood Community Music School, no longer offering music degrees and instead proffering music programs and lessons for the Chicago community. In 2007, Columbia College Chicago purchased the school to become a campus center promoting lifelong involvement and development in music. Today, the Sherwood Community Music School at Columbia College Chicago acts as a center for community music education, providing programs and lessons for musicians of all ages and continuing education opportunities for educators.