Taylor School Brings Music Education to the Community
The Program is led by MC faculty members in the Department of Music.
Musical education at Mississippi College (MC) takes place on several different levels. In addition to the undergraduate and graduate-level courses that teach advanced musical concepts, there exists a community program for beginners. The Taylor School at Mississippi College was started almost twenty years ago by a group of faculty members in the MC Department of Music. Dr. Michael Rushing, a music professor who specializes in teaching piano courses, has served as the director since 2010.
The Taylor School opened in 2007, creating opportunities for music students to apply the skills they have learned in classes to their careers. The school offers guitar, piano, and voice lessons and aims to teach its students the importance of a strong work ethic. “The school started to provide a teaching experience for MC students that may think they are interested in teaching piano in the future,” Rushing said.
Since its start, the school has more than doubled its size; this semester, 60 students are being taught through the program. While Rushing leads the school, he is assisted by several other faculty members—Portia Davis, Joy Graves, and Rebekah Lipscombe serve as piano teachers. Sarah Pigott serves as a voice instructor, and Jimmy Turners serves as the school’s guitar teacher.
The school holds several student-led performances throughout the year. In the fall, participating students of the Taylor School perform while wearing Halloween costumes. The school also holds a student recital in the spring.
Although the majority of Taylor School students do not pursue music majors, Rushing has still seen a significant number of them attend highly competitive institutes. “I’ve got three students that are music majors at other universities now, such as Mississippi State, University of North Texas, and the Cleveland Institute,” Rushing said. The director said he wants to continue to see his students excelling, while also finding ways to create internal growth.
In the future, Rushing hopes to bring technological developments to the school. “I’m brainstorming the idea of music technology classes for people that can’t read music or don’t have an interest in playing an instrument,” Rushing said. “This would be for students that want to know how music works and make songs on applications such as GarageBand.”
While Rushing enjoys his time instructing MC undergraduates, he expressed how teaching through the Taylor School brings a different kind of satisfaction.
“There are a lot of weeks where I very much enjoy teaching the college students and being able to teach at such a high repertoire,” Rushing said. “But, man, there are some weeks we’re teaching the younger kids or the retired students that come in just for stress relief; they are some of the most meaningful parts of my week.”
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