Courtesy / Portland Conservatory of Music
Wright-Ryan is undertaking renovations of the Portland Conservatory of Music’s new space at 28 Neal St. in Portland’s West End, expected to open right after Labor Day.
Updated: July 21, 2021
Portland Conservatory of Music finds permanent home in a larger space
Courtesy / Portland Conservatory of Music
An anonymous donor paid for the purchase of a former church for the Portland Conservatory of Music’s new facility. The space is twice the school’s current digs.
Thanks to the philanthropy of an anonymous donor, the Portland Conservatory of Music has a new facility that’s more than double the school's current space.
A 8,920-square-foot former church, at 28 Neal St. in Portland’s West End, is undergoing renovations before the nonprofit conservatory’s expected move-in after Labor Day.
“We are so thankful to our generous donor, board and advisory council,” the conservatory’s executive director, Jean Murachanian, said in a news release. “I think we’ve all realized during the pandemic how important music is to our lives and our children’s lives. The world needs the power of music to heal the soul, bring people together, and express our innermost selves.”
The donor paid $925,000 for the former Second Parish Presbyterian Church, Murachanian told Mainebiz.
The seller was Second Parish Orthodox Presbyterian Church Corp. Andrew Ingalls of Malone Commercial Brokers represented both buyer and seller in the transaction.
Murachanian said the larger facility should allow the conservatory to increase enrollment and programming.
“Someone called the other day and said, ‘Can I get on the waiting list?’ I said, ‘Oh, my gosh — yes!’” she said.
The building is ideally suited for performance space, music studios, band and choir rehearsal, a recording studio and events, she said. The site is also within walking distance of downtown Portland, making it more convenient and accessible to a wider segment of the greater Portland community.
Filling a need
The conservatory was founded in 1995 and offers musical instruction, educational programs, and access to music through free and low-cost performances and festivals. It serves students of all ages.
According to a history by one of its founders, Hillary Egan, the school’s founding responded to concerns that a group of music educators, professional musicians, parents and patrons had at the time about “the disheartening state of music education” in Maine, including cuts in funding for public school music programs and the variable quality of music lessons throughout the state.
“High school students with professional music aspirations were leaving the state for their secondary education because their educational needs were not being met in Maine and adults seeking music education were finding that their music education wants were not being met by the university-level offerings,” the history says.
The group obtained a $25,000 grant from the Davis Family Foundation and founded the conservatory as a nonprofit community music school. Its first location was a leased space on the fourth floor of 116 Free St. in downtown Portland.
“With the help of a very large crane, Starbird Piano and Organ Co. placed seven Yamaha pianos into new studios at PCM,” the history says.
By that December, 70 students were studying piano, guitar, flute, clarinet, violin, viola and trumpet.
Growing demand
Programming and enrollment grew, as did collaborations with members of the local, national and international music education and performance community, ranging from the Portland Symphony Orchestra to the Berlin Philharmonic String Quartet. The conservatory developed multi-day and week-long events such as the Theremin Institute, Beethoven’s Birthday Bash and the International Summer Piano Residency. Its first gift toward an endowment fund came in 1999.
In 2008, the conservatory moved to its current lease on the third floor of Woodfords Congregational Church at 202 Woodford St. in Portland.
The school’s mission is to provide access to quality music education for community members of all ages, abilities and financial levels. Classically based, the school provides musical instruction in piano, voice, strings, winds, percussion and brass instruments.
In recent years, it expanded offerings to include jazz, world music and fiddle, as well as music theory, history and the literature of music and music performance. Numerous programs and group classes include the Girl Singers of Maine and the Boy Singers of Maine, Early Childhood Music Education, Jazz Studies and Karger College Preparatory for middle and high school students. It sponsors community concerts, festivals, lectures and other public performances.
Merit scholarships and need-based financial aid are provided and plans are in the works to partner this fall with LearningWorks, a Portland nonprofit that supports academic and social success, to provide programming for teens and young adults.
The conservatory maintained lessons, group classes, recitals and concerts throughout the pandemic.
Surprise gift
The conservatory realized it would have to start looking for a new spot when the owner of its current facility began making new plans, Murachanian said.
Courtesy / Portland Conservatory of Music
Jean Murachanian
“So we started to look at alternative spaces,” she said. “We were looking at rental properties and they were out of our price range. We were worried about what we were going to do.”
Then a donor stepped forward with an offer to pay up to $1 million for the former Second Parish Presbyterian Church, she said.
“A donor identified this property and said, ‘See if it works for you,’” she recounted. “I said, ‘OK!’ It took us by surprise.”
After the closing in May, the conservatory retained Wright-Ryan, a Portland building contractor, to handle renovations.
First-phase renovations include a fresh air system, fire alarm system, acoustical improvements, interior paint, roof, outside handrails and an Americans With Disabilities Act ramp to the performance space.
The conservatory anticipates a second round of renovations next summer, which will include a lift/elevator to the lower level.
So far, renovations have come to almost $200,000, Murachanian said.
“It’s a perfect building for us, but there’s a lot to do,” she said.
A capital campaign will be launched to raise funds for renovations and to build the endowment.
The move, said Murachanian, will be a “resurgence after a difficult year for everyone.”
Increased visibility
The conservatory employs about 50 part-time faculty members and teaches 30 instruments.
When Murachanian took the helm six years ago, enrollment was about 150.
“I worked hard to increase our visibility and we got to a high of 350 before the pandemic,” she said. “We were bursting at the seams.”
The conservatory’s current space consists of eight studios on the third floor, totaling about 2,500 square feet, plus shared space elsewhere in the church, such as the sanctuary, for large group and ensemble rehearsals.
Capacity at the new digs hasn’t quite been worked out, but will probably be 12 studios.
“The new building is a lot bigger and has more studios,” Murachanian said. “It’s a real game-changer for us and we’ll be able to do more programming.”
The conservatory is getting word out about the new location mainly through press releases and social media. Given climbing enrollment just before the pandemic, she expects that trend to continue.
“We’ve seen a lot of interest since we’ve resumed in-person lessons,” she said. “A lot of people are calling to sign up for lessons. A lot of people are anxious to get back to normal. We’re hoping, with the new space and more visibility, that we can do more and that our enrollment will take off.”
The conservatory is planning an opening celebration with faculty and student performances when it moves in this fall.
Murachanian said that, with the increase in vaccinations, particularly with the availability to children ages 12 and up, the conservatory is planning for a return to normal operations by fall, including in-person concerts. It will hold its free First Thursday Noonday Concerts at the new location and maintain its Third Thursday Noonday Concerts at the Portland Public Library. The conservatory also had several live concerts on tap this summer on Peaks Island and other Casco Bay Islands.
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