(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A non-profit community music school that has taught thousands of students over 90 years has moved.
The new administrative offices of the Music Institute of Chicago are blocks away from the organization's Nichols Concert Hall.
Staff moved from other offices in downtown Evanston into the new fourth-floor space several months ago but celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday.
President and CEO Mark George said the power of music ranges from developing brains and transforming people's lives to keeping kids off screens for a few hours.
"We love Evanston and we have both a campus here and a concert hall. So we have a big footprint in Evanston and a lot of Evanston students," George said.
Many of the students taking group or private lessons are young - some children start in preschool.
But George says more and more are older adults, retirees or empty nesters who've decided to pick up an instrument for the first, or second time.
"It's really one of the fastest growing parts of the school at this point," George said.
The Institute began at a Winnetka farmhouse in 1931 and teaches about two thousand students annually at various ages, abilities and income levels.
It has eight campuses - two in Chicago, as well as locations in Downers Grove, Evanston, Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, Wheaton and Winnetka.
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