About Parlando
History and Mission
Colorado's largest stand-alone music education nonprofit, serving Boulder and beyond since 2002.
600+
Students served every week
10,000+
People reached through outreach each month
2002
Founded in Boulder, Colorado
Our story
Music remains
A short film about what music means to this community.
Our mission
To provide access to people of all ages and abilities, inspiring them to share in the love of music and the arts through education, community collaboration, and performance opportunity.
"Parlando" is an Italian word meaning "to speak." In musical terms, parlando means to speak in a musical way. At Parlando School of Musical Arts, we are committed to unifying our community through the universal language of music and the arts.
Our vision
As an innovative centerpiece for community-based music and arts education in Colorado, Parlando strives to inspire a national model for artistic engagement and advocacy.
Our history
Founded on access
Parlando School of Musical Arts was founded in 2002 with a vision to increase accessibility to music for all people. Now the largest stand-alone music education and outreach organization in Colorado, we provide lessons and classes to over 600 students per week and outreach programming to more than 10,000 additional people every month.
Our core outreach programming includes tuition assistance, school outreach, early childhood programming, programming for people with intellectual disabilities and neurodiversities, and specific organizations like Boulder Day Nursery and Mother House. We remain vigilant in our efforts toward a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive community.
Inclusivity statement
We are committed to providing opportunities for students and teachers of all races, socioeconomic statuses, sexual orientations, gender identities, and abilities — including neurodiversities. We commit to the time, energy, resources, funding, and long-term institutional changes this will entail.
We intend to show and not tell.
Leadership
Board of directors
Parlando is governed by a board of dedicated community members who share a commitment to making music education accessible to everyone.
Aileen Schwab
Chair
Rick Rudy
Vice Chair
Susan Churchill
Treasurer
Andrew Cooperstock
Board member
Cindy Davis
Board member
Michael Drapkin
Board member
Anne Fitzgibbon
Board member
Carolyn Grant
Board member
Relyn Myrthil
Board member
Charles Tooman
Board member
Jon Wittemyer
Board member
Land acknowledgement
Honoring this place
We'd like to acknowledge and recognize we are meeting on land that sits in the territory of the Arapahoe, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples. We would like to recognize the 48 contemporary tribal nations historically tied to the lands that comprise Colorado. We see and affirm the ties these nations have to their ancestral homelands and all the Indigenous people who thrive today.
We also hold space and acknowledge the painful history of ill treatment and forced removal that has had a continuing negative impact on Native nations. We honor the Indigenous people here and thank the ancestors of this place.
Acknowledgement written by Alex Alvarez