School of Music History

In the year 2000, several members of Ark & Dove Presbyterian Church noted the tremendous concentration of musical talent among the church staff and decided to find a way to share this gathering of gifts with our community in west Anne Arundel County. The idea for a School of Music evolved to fill a community need for accessible musical instruction and a local cultural arts center. In order to fulfill our dream that such musical experience should be available to everyone, the school has specified that one of its three major goals will always be to target activities toward and develop connections with the economically disadvantaged areas of our county.

The school was established in 2001 as a 503(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, and the first cultural event was held in 2003 in the form of a coffeehouse/ fundraiser. A generous grant from the Presbytery of Baltimore provided opportunity for program growth, and in February, 2004 Craig Sparks was hired as Program Director to provide increased guidance for the music programs. Mr. Sparks left the program to pursue development of his musical career in the summer of 2008.  In August 2009, Joshua Horsch was hired as Executive Director to help the school expand its choices for instruction, programs and musical influence throughout West Anne Arundel County.

Current instruction offered at Ark & Dove includes piano, voice, guitar, brass, flute/piccolo, composition and theory.  We anticipate continuing to expand our offerings during the 2009-2010 school year.