We started CSM because we loved music, loved teaching, and believed families deserved a place where lessons felt personal, organized, and close to home. Years later, our own kids take lessons here too.
five locations · 60+ teachers · 1,000+ students · Since 2012
We first met while studying music at a summer festival. We were both musicians, both teachers, and eventually both parents putting down roots in Greater Cincinnati.
Cincinnati School of Music opened in 2012 with one location in Olde Montgomery, a small team, and a simple hope: create a place where families felt known, students felt encouraged, and good teachers could do meaningful work.
The school grew slowly and naturally — one student, one family, one recommendation at a time. Students kept coming back, parents told friends, and CSM became part of more weekly routines across Cincinnati. Thirteen years later, CSM has five locations and 60+ teachers. It has been voted Best of the North for Music Instruction by Cincy Magazine readers ten consecutive years. It is still locally owned, locally run, and shaped by the same neighborhoods and families that helped it grow.
Our own kids take lessons here. One is learning saxophone. One is on drums. One is on guitar — all with CSM teachers. It keeps us close to the everyday experience of families here — drop-offs, recitals, practice weeks, scheduling questions, and the small moments that make music lessons matter.
"We want to go beyond your expectations. It is a happy atmosphere here because we love what we do, and we believe we are bringing something important to our community."
Two musicians. A four-room basement in Olde Montgomery. A few dozen families who believed music belonged close to home.
We know what good instruction sounds like because we have played. We know what students need because we have taught. We know what you are trusting us with because we are parents here, too. We live here, we work here, and we are proud that CSM has become something families can count on — personal enough to feel known, and organized enough to make weekly lessons easier to keep.
"Dream big. Work hard. Play music." We put it on the wall at Anderson when we opened that location — alongside our mission to inspire, to change lives through music, and to foster creativity, confidence, and grit in students of all ages. It is a reminder for everyone who walks in that music is our passion, our community, our purpose, and our vehicle to self-discipline, mastery, and joy.
Book an intro lesson at any of our five locations. No commitment, no pressure. Just a first lesson with a real teacher — and a chance to see if this feels right for your family.
Book Your Intro Lesson