CMS is the proud recipient of the 2023 IDEA Award presented by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra!

About the award

The orchestral music world should reflect and be accessible to our whole community. We seek to break down barriers for participation, especially for those who are underrepresented in the artform.

We recognize that we must all work together as a community to create an inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible environment in which music flourishes.

To these ends, this award aims to recognize and lift up individuals and organizations in our local community who love any and all genres of orchestral music and embody the principles of inclusion, diversity, equity and access (IDEA) while promoting, supporting, and/or practicing this artform.

The BPO Diversity Council honors the Community Music School of Buffalo (CMS) for creating access and opportunities for music learning regardless of age, socio-economic status or geographic location with a special focus on breaking down real or perceived barriers for our underserved community members.

Community Music School has a rich heritage of sharing the gift of music with the diverse communities of Western New York. Founded in 1924, CMS was originally called First Settlement Music School. It grew out of Welcome Hall Social Settlement, a South Buffalo facility run by the First Presbyterian Church to serve low-income individuals and families. First Settlement Music School was founded by the Chromatic Club and other community leaders.

The University of the State of New York immediately chartered First Settlement Music School for the “musical education of young people unable to pay standard prices for expert teaching.” In those early days, the school was housed at 232 Myrtle Street in South Buffalo, just a few blocks from where the famed Chef’s Restaurant stands on Seneca Street.

In 1948, the school was renamed Community Music School of Buffalo to better represent the school’s services, its independent status, the population being served, and its direction for the future. The school quickly outgrew its original home and several other buildings before moving to 415 Elmwood Avenue in 1959. CMS now resides in its new home at 217 E. Delavan Avenue in the Hamlin Park Historic District.

CMS serves more than 500 students each year at its main location in Hamlin Park and satellite branches in Clarence Center, Lockport, Snyder, and West Seneca. CMS also offers extension programs at daycare centers, schools, community centers, senior homes, and other organizations. Of those who benefit from CMS services, nearly 30% are from racially diverse communities, more than 75% are children, and 15% receive financial assistance through investments from various funding sources.