Coast Music celebrates two decades of bring musicians and community together
Story and photos Chelsea Sektnan On a recent summer Monday, eight-year-old Mia Papanikolas walked into Coast Music in Manhattan Beach with only a handful of group piano lessons behind her. On Friday, four days later, she walked out of Coast Music feeling like a rock star. She and five other kids from around the South Bay, had taken part in Coast Music’s transformative, Music and Outdoor Recreation Camp, better known as Rock Band Camp. Coast Music was founded 20 years ago, in 2004, by Palos Verdes Estates residents and musicians Beth, 57, and Matt Rohde, 54. While helping young musicians become performers, their true specialty is fostering a close-knit community of music lovers. “One of my favorite things after 20 years in business, is I still get to work with my students,” Beth said. “Former students have become our teachers, we’ve known them their whole lives.” Coast Music started as a modest, 600-square-foot music school in Hermosa Beach.Today the school has 5,000 square feet in Manhattan Beach. Facilities include soundproof practice rooms, and rehearsal rooms, and a stage with professional sound and lighting. “I had worked for all kinds of music schools, but I wanted to bring…
Read this story on easyreadernews.com