Sarasota Music Conservatory

10/31/2026

Our adult students are taking the stage!

Join us this Sunday, tomorrow, for SMC’s Adult Student Recital, featuring performances by members of our adult music community.

Sunday, November 1 | 4:00 PM
Sarasota Music Conservatory Recital Hall

Free and open to the public. Come spend an afternoon with us and support our performers!

10/31/2026

🌟🌟🌟Help nominate Sarasota Music Conservatory for Best of SRQ Local!🌟🌟🌟

We’re incredibly proud of the students, families, faculty, and supporters who make SMC such a special community, and we’d love your help celebrating it!

SRQ Magazine’s Best of SRQ Local 2027 nominations are now open, and SMC is eligible in four categories:

• Best Local Music School
• Best Local After School Program
• Best Local Children’s Nonprofit
• Best Local Nonprofit

Nominations close November 18!

Families + Children
Nominate SMC for Best Local Music School and Best Local After School Program:
https://www.srqmagazine.com/2026/bosrq2027 #/gallery?group=554253

Philanthropy
Nominate SMC for Best Local Children’s Nonprofit and Best Local Nonprofit:
https://www.srqmagazine.com/2026/bosrq2027 #/gallery?group=554258

Every nomination makes a difference. Thank you for supporting SMC and helping us continue to make music education accessible to students and families in our community.

We’re so grateful to have you as part of SMC!

SRQ: Sarasota's Premier Magazine is the monthly city magazine for Sarasota, Manatee and the Gulf Coast Keys. With vibrant features and engaging content, SRQ is the indispensable must-read for affluent boomers, professionals and active retirees.

10/19/2026

🍂 Fall is full of music at Sarasota Music Conservatory!

We have a busy few months ahead with performances, competitions, masterclasses, and opportunities for our students to share their hard work with the community. 🎶

Coming up this fall:

🍁 Nov. 1 at 4 PM — Adult Student Recital at SMC
🎻 Nov. 14, 9 AM–12 PM — Concerto Competition at State College of Florida
🎶 Nov. 14 at 3 PM — Chamber Masterclass at SMC, in collaboration with the Perlman Music Program
🎼 Nov. 15, 1–6 PM — Student Recitals at Church of the Palms
✨ Dec. 12 at 4 PM — YAP Recital at Sarasota Bay Club
🩰 Dec. 20–22 — The Nutcracker with SMC’s Side-by-Side Chamber Orchestra and Sarasota Ballet Margaret Barbieri Conservatory

Save the dates—we’re looking forward to a wonderful season of music together! 🍂

For details and updates:
sarasotamusicconservatory.org/performances

10/10/2026

Please welcome violinist Laura Motchalov to the Sarasota Music Conservatory faculty! 🎻

Laura brings 23 years of experience as a tenured member of the Grammy Award-winning Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, where she also performed as a featured soloist. An Eastman School of Music graduate with a Bachelor of Music and Performer’s Certificate, she earned her Master of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her recording career includes chamber music albums and violin-and-piano collaborations.

Having started violin at age four through the Suzuki method, Laura loves helping students of all ages and skill levels discover the joy of making music. Her teaching welcomes exploration—from classical repertoire to bluegrass and jazz—and draws on Suzuki teacher training with David Strom, Rolando Freitag and Kathleen Spring.

As a Timani teacher-in-training, she also explores ways to help students feel more natural, comfortable and at ease while playing.

We’re excited for our students to learn from her experience, creativity and love of teaching. Welcome to SMC, Laura!

10/05/2026

🎶 BIG DREAMS DESERVE A BIG STAGE!

Could your young musician be the next featured soloist with The Pops Orchestra?

Sarasota Music Conservatory’s annual Concerto Competition gives advanced young classical musicians the chance to earn cash prizes—and winners the opportunity to perform as featured soloists with The Pops Orchestra!

🏆 Cash prizes
🎼 Winners perform with The Pops Orchestra
📍 Open to students in grades 2–12 within a 60-mile radius of Sarasota
📅 Competition: November 14, 2026
⏳ Application deadline: October 31

Bring your talent. Share your passion. Take your next step onto the concert stage.

Learn more and apply: https://www.sarasotamusicconservatory.org/

09/16/2026

🎼 Music Theory Classes Are Underway!

Our weekly music theory classes launched this week, and there’s still time to join!

Whether you’re just beginning or ready for Level 2, these classes help students strengthen the skills behind their music, from reading and understanding notation to building a stronger foundation for performance.

Weekly Schedule

🎵 Tuesdays
Beginner | 4:15–4:45 PM
Level 2 | 4:45–5:15 PM
Instructor: Marjorie Hohlstein

🎵 Thursdays
Beginner | 4:15–4:45 PM
Level 2 | 4:45–5:15 PM
Instructor: Seth Hull

🎵 Saturdays
Beginner | 12:00–12:30 PM
Level 2 | 12:30–1:00 PM
Instructor: Marjorie Hohlstein

🎶 Adult Music Theory
Tuesdays | 6:00–6:45 PM
Instructor: Marjorie Hohlstein

Registration is open through the end of this week. Current SMC students and families can register through the MyMusicStaff portal.

Come build the knowledge behind the music! 🎶

09/11/2026

🎻 Good luck to our All-State musicians!

Tomorrow is All-State Orchestra audition day! Several of our SMC students have been preparing all summer for this moment, and tonight they're making their final preparations with a special workshop and mock auditions at SMC.

We're cheering you on!
Good luck tomorrow! 🎶

Celebrating over 75 years of supporting, promoting, and expanding school orchestra programs throughout the State of Florida.

09/09/2026

🎸 Music Connects @ SMC: FREE Adult Guitar Classes!

Have you always wanted to learn guitar,or are you ready to take your playing to the next level?

Join us at Sarasota Music Conservatory for FREE weekly adult guitar classes, Thursdays from 6–7 PM!

🎶 Beginners: August 27–October 15
🎶 Intermediate: October 22–December 10

Whether you’re picking up a guitar for the first time or building on the skills you already have, come make music, learn something new, and connect with others in our community.

https://www.sarasotamusicconservatory.org/programs/community

Classes are FREE - enroll today!
Visit SarasotaMusicConservatory.org

🎸 Because it’s never too late to make music.

09/03/2026

🎶 Thank You for Making a Difference!

We are incredibly grateful to everyone who supported our August Scholarship Fund Drive!

Together, you helped us raise $11,661 for the Sarasota Music Conservatory Scholarship Fund. And thanks to the generous $5,000 matching gift from our Board of Directors, that's a total impact of $16,661 for our students! ❤️

Your generosity helps provide scholarships, instruments, exceptional instruction, and opportunities for young musicians to learn, grow, and discover what they are capable of achieving.

To every donor, family, faculty member, and friend who gave, shared our posts, or helped spread the word: thank you. You made this possible.

While our August Scholarship Fund Drive has officially ended, you can support SMC's programs and scholarships throughout the year.

👉 Continue supporting SMC programs and scholarships:
https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/support-smcs-programs-and-scholarships

Thank you for investing in the next generation of musicians. 🎻🎹

08/31/2026

LAST DAY TO MAKE DOUBLE THE IMPACT!!!

Help Us Reach $15,000

Scholarship Fund Drive
Ends Tonight!!

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/back-to-school-scholarship-fund-drive?fbclid=IwY2xjawUCaY1wZG9mAWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR7aIGx81mkTjkcCGMbgllzDJmPKpye1GGlu0_rUBxM26Cy21ZlH27w4aOpQmQ_aem_b39i1e-uOCf73kU6UWScoQ