Welcome to the Northwestern Music Academy!
We are the community music division of the Bienen School of Music, where a legacy of teaching excellence informs all of our offerings. We provide music instruction to children and adult students in Evanston and the greater Chicago area.
Whether a student desires to be a professional musician or a life-long patron of music, our well-rounded curriculum is designed to instill music appreciation for life. Our highly experienced faculty are skilled in teaching students of all ages and levels. We offer private and group lessons in piano, violin, viola, cello and guitar. At the Music Academy, we believe that a well-taught lesson not only gives our students the gift of music, but it also enhances their life skills on every level.
For more information on our program, we invite you to explore our Kindermusik, Piano, and Strings webpages.
If you are interested in supporting our program for Academy families in need of financial aid, we invite you to Make a Gift. Select “Search School and Program Funds” and check the box for Northwestern Music Academy (pre-college). Your contribution helps make music lessons possible for those who would otherwise not be able to afford them.
We hope you will consider being a part of our Music Academy family.
Sincerely,
Susan Osborn
Director, Northwestern Music Academy
musicacademy@northwestern.edu
Michael Pecak, currently a Senior Associate at JPMorganChase in the Consumer Banking Division, has a long and wonderful history with the Northwestern Music Academy, both as a student and as a teacher. In high school, Michael was a student of Dr. Mary Beth Molenaar. He went on to earn his Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University, a Master’s degree from Indiana University-Bloomington where he studied with Andre Watts, and a DMA in Historical Performance Practices from McGill University. A Fulbright Scholarship enabled Michael to spend a year at the F. Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Poland, and, as a Graduate Fellow at Cornell University, Michael worked with renowned historical fortepianist Malcolm Bilson. After many years of advanced studies and international performances, Michael returned to the Academy as a piano instructor, teaching there from 2017 to 2023. In addition to his performance endeavors as a (forte)pianist, Michael is also an accomplished conductor, having worked with leading American opera companies including Florida Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Saratoga, and Chicago Opera Theater. Michael is an active collaborator, particularly with his wife soprano Hannah De Priest, and has published scholarly articles on the music of Beethoven, Kalkbrenner, and Chopin. Recently, Michael stepped into another passion - the world of finance, which ultimately led him to his position at JPMorganChase. He earned an MBA from DePaul University in Chicago and has worked as a registered Municipal Financial Advisor. For Michael, music and numbers go hand-in-hand, and he loves how one can creatively inform the other.