Free Fine Arts Conservatory in Washington Heights Looks to Expand
(DNAINFO) Carolina Pichardo | March 25, 2016 — The six-year program offers students classes in cello, violin, clarinet and other music education.
The only conservatory for fine arts in Washington Heights not only provides individual and group lessons in music, theater and orchestra for school-age children — it does it all for free.
When Adan Vasquez, president of the Association of Dominican Classical Artists, launched the Washington Heights Community Conservatory of Fine Arts (WHCCFA) in 2011, he said he initially enrolled students through word-of-mouth.
“We got some kids and they told other kids,” Vasquez said. “We also sent notes to principals of local schools and organizations.”
It was a rough in the beginning, Vasquez admitted, but over the years the program, which works with students out of the Alianza Triangle Building 530 West 166th St., has picked up steam.