Music Together - History

History

Music Together was founded by Kenneth K. Guilmartin, a composer and musician certified in Dalcroze Eurhythmics. In 1985 Guilmartin founded the Center for Music and Young Children (CMYC) to research and develop early childhood music programs for Birch Tree Group, Ltd., publishers of the Suzuki Method. CMYC was originally funded by royalties from the song "Happy Birthday to You" which had been composed by two kindergarten teachers, sisters Mildred J. Hill and Patty Smith Hill. When Birch Tree Group, Ltd. was purchased by Warner Brothers, CMYC was spun off as a separate entity owned and operated by Guilmartin.

In 1986 Guilmartin began to collaborate with Lili M. Levinowitz, Ph.D., at that time a doctoral student directing the Children’s Music Development Program at Temple University. Levinowitz was a student of learning theorist Edwin Gordon, known for his Music Learning Theory. Guilmartin and Levinowitz were influenced by Gordon’s work, and included tonal patterns and rhythm patterns based on his work in their new program.

Music Together was first offered to the public in 1987 in a suburb of Philadelphia. After a brief residence at Westminster Conservatory of Music in Princeton, NJ, the company moved to a studio on Nassau Street in Princeton in 1989, the same year that it offered its first teacher training. In 1997, the year of its tenth anniversary, the company moved to 66 Witherspoon St. in Princeton, with room for its lab school as well as offices. In 2006, the company moved into a newly renovated 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m2) building in Hopewell, NJ, just outside Princeton. It still maintains its lab school and research arm at the Witherspoon St. location.