The CMC Atlanta Performance Workshop provides middle and high school students and recent graduates the opportunity to dig into music making with peers and faculty.  Students can perform just about any style of music, including classical, jazz, rock or American roots, hip hop and more.  The Workshop is open to both singers and instrumentalists, and individual students have the opportunity to rotate between different roles in the ad hoc and standing ensembles we create in the Performance Workshop.  

The Performance Workshops is open to students grades 6-8 and 9-12 year round.  During the school year, the Performance Workshop students attend weekly small ensemble rehearsals and group classes; during the months of June and July, when school is out, we offer week-long Performance Workshop Summer 2023 Sessions at CMC Little 5 Points and CMC Decatur.  Middle and high school students can attend full or half days, depending on family needs and student interest.  

• CMC L5P Session 1, July 10-14, Jazz, Rock, Fusion 
• CMC L5P Session 2, July 17-21, Jazz Rock, Fusion
• July SHOWCASE, Friday, July 21, 5 pm, CMC Little 5 Points

• CMC Decatur Strings Now! TBD, incorporating technology into performance
• CMC Decatur Stings Be-In, TBD, roots and blue grass string performance 

• CMC L5P New Chamber Music July 24-28, Student composers and performers
• SHOWCASE, Friday, July 28, 5 pm, CMC L5P

From June 10 to July 15, we also offer another option-- we continue the Saturday sessions that go on year round in Little 5 Points, with the goal of prepping all students for the July 11 SHOWCASE.  Please note: no Saturday Workshop July 1.   

In addition to rehearsals and group classes, we encourage students in the Performance Workshop to take private lessons with us.  During the Summer Sessions, private instruction is automatically included, but during the school year, students must opt in or opt out of Studio Lessons.  Time spent one-on-one in Studio Lessons with a private teacher supports workshop participation, but we understand some students are attached to a teacher who is not affiliated with CMC Atlanta, and so lessons with us are not a requirement for Performance Workshop enrollment.     

Performance Workshop training, rehearsals, classes and lessons prepare students for informal performance for peers and parents at our local Centers, but we also prepare and support CMC Atlanta students in public performances at a variety of local professional venues and on stage in high profile festivals.  Our students have performed at Variety Playhouse (pictured above), 7 Stages Theatre, Twains, the Wrecking Bar, the World of Coca-Cola, and they have participated in the L5P Halloween Festival, the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, the Inman Park Festival, Tunes from the Tombs, the Decatur Business Association Breakfast with Santa, the Dunwoody Arts Festival, and more.  Of course, not all students are quite ready for the public stage when they first join the Performance Workshop, but we have a step by step approach to supporting our students as they work their way to hitting the big stage, confidently prepared, with faculty and peers.   

We design and run our Performance Workshop using the same values, goals, and principles that have made our programs popular with parents and students alike:

• we group students by age, skill level, and interests 
• we understand discipline as a tool for reaching goals, but emphasize experiential learning and we keep it fun
• we analyze and respond well to differentiated learning styles and different musical goals,
• we limit enrollment so the students receive individual attention, and most importantly,
• we empower students to take control of their own creative output. 

Best of all, our Performance Workshops are staffed by our professional team of expert faculty and camp counselors, and tuition is very reasonably priced. 

More About Our Approach & the Enrollment Logistics

All CMC Atlanta programs emphasize the development of essential foundational musical skills and concepts. This allows beginners and relatively inexperienced players and performers to jump in and to start building skills for self expression right away.  Because of the calibre and dedication of our faculty, and also because year after year we attract very talented students headed to music schools across the country, we are also situated to support students who are at the preprofessional level of musical development.  

During the school year, students jump into performances as their facility determines readiness.  In order to prepare and participate in the Summer Showcase, we require most students to attend for at least two consecutive week-long Sessions, either half or full day.  Students who attend early in the summer are also required to purchase and return on a two or three Day Passes the week of the show (in order to brush up tunes).  The day passes can be either full day ($60) or half day ($45).

During the Summer Sessions, parents and students sometimes ask, "Can I enroll for one week only?"  Our answer is a qualified "yes."  A student can enroll for a single week, but the one week enrollment choice will likely not be enough time for the student to join the Showcase-- he or she will engage in some meaningful process, but not participate in the final outcome.  Occassionally, an experienced student will attend only a single week of the Workshop, but still auditions and is given permission to perform (at the discretion of faculty).  Logically, one week attendance means the student participates with less material to present than peers who attend two full weeks or more.

Summer 2022 : Student Showcases

• Summer Showcase One @CMC Little 5 Points, Friday July 21
• Summer Showcase Two @CMC Little 5 Points, Friday, July 28

You can read about the inaugural summer event on our website here, or you can see it posted on Variety's site. Even better,  check out a featured video clip from a past Summer Performance Workshop