Community Partnership

Bringing music lessons home

Parlando and Boulder Housing Partners are removing the two biggest barriers to music lessons: the cost, and the distance to get there.

The idea

Lessons, right where families live

For years, Parlando offered tuition assistance to any family who could get to the Dairy Arts Center. Reduced pricing helped, but for many working families, transportation was just as big a barrier as cost.

So we brought the lessons to them. Parlando now places pianos directly in the community rooms of Boulder Housing Partners communities and teaches weekly, sliding-scale lessons on site. Students can also practice on those pianos between lessons, so no family needs to find room, or the money, for an instrument at home.

When we removed both barriers at once, families showed up. Within a few weeks of launching, our sites were already at three-quarters capacity.

Read the full story from Boulder Reporting Lab
A student practicing piano at a Boulder Housing Partners community
Where we teach

Five communities, and growing

Parlando teaches at each of these communities every week, using instruments and space we provide on site.

Manhattan

Arapahoe Ave & Foothills Pkwy
Piano and violin lessons

Tantra Lake

South Boulder Rd, west of US-36
Piano lessons

Palo Park

Off Broadway, north of Iris Ave
Piano lessons

Rally Flats

Boulder Housing Partners
Cello lessons
New this fall

Hilltop

Hilltop Senior Living, South Boulder
Community choir, open to residents and neighbors
New this fall

Not sure which site is closest? Here's where each on-site program meets.

Map of Boulder Housing Partners on-site lesson locations
In their words

Why this partnership matters

Access to music should be equitable, and it's a multigenerational experience.
Travis LaBerge, Parlando Founder & Executive Director
The scholarships are a huge, huge help for our families.
Anita Speirs, Boulder Housing Partners
For families

Interested in lessons at your community? Reach out and we'll help you find a spot.

info@parlando.org or call 303-442-0006

Help us bring this to more communities

Every lesson here is subsidized through Parlando's tuition assistance fund. As we grow to more sites, your support keeps lessons within reach for every family who wants them.

Support the program
In partnership with
Boulder Housing Partners logo