The Greater Syracuse School of Music
About Us

In this Fall of 2011 we begin our third year as The Greater Syracuse School of Music. I am very pleased to say that we still have all the same dedicated teachers who taught our students last year. Nearly all have been with us since our beginning in 2009. Since then, there have been so many positive changes.

In 2010 we relocated to The First Baptist Church of Syracuse on East Seneca Turnpike, just outside the city limits, on the way to Jamesville. The new location has proven to be very convenient no matter if students are coming from north, south, east or west. Our new “home” has provided our students with bright, spacious rooms, a safe parking lot, with a convenient drop-off close to the door, a toy room for parents who are waiting with young children, a sitting room with comfy couches for waiting families, a huge room for our large group music activities and a beautiful place for recitals. An extra bonus is the warmth of Pastor Scott, who has been known to delight children with  raspberry Twizzlers when he’s around.

It has been our pleasure to teach children as young as 4 and adults as well. We even have an instrumental ensemble, The Syracuse New Horizons Ensemble , which is comprised mostly of adults over 50. They meet at Rockefeller United Methodist Church (see Our Programs page). This is the only such group in the Syracuse area, and they continually seek new members. These dedicated musicians kept on meeting right through the summer! The first two years they struggled along with 6 or 7 music makers, under the expert direction of Don Goodness. Today, there are 15, and they are still growing. They sound wonderful!

The Greater Syracuse School of Music will continue our custom of performing in local nursing homes providing music entertainment to those who can no longer go to concerts due to advanced age or other infirmities. We have been graciously received and we all benefit from these encounters with the frail in our community.

In the coming year, it is our desire to build a strong pre-school music program, to increase the community’s awareness of our music classes for people with special needs, and to offer classes for those who are seeking instruction in composing and songwriting. Please look at Our Programs page to find new course offerings . Please know that we always welcome your ideas and questions.

GSSOM History

Jean MacLeod, Owner and Director of The Greater Syracuse School of Music, just returned from an inspiring trip to Kenya where she team-taught music education workshops to 80 teachers from 13 rural villages. Her love of music began early, as she grew up in a household where music and folk dancing were part and parcel of everyday life. Her parents were steeped in an international community of immigrants from all over the world, who brought their music and dances with them and shared them with each other in New York City. All of her relatives studied musical instruments or sang. Jean followed this strong family tradition.

Jean’s formal music training occurred at the prestigious Crane School of Music, where she earned her bachelor of science in Music Education. Later she received her master’s degree in Education at a SUNY, Oswego. Jean taught private piano and voice lessons and was director of music in several Syracuse area churches, as well as Campus Ministry Music Director at LeMoyne College. Ms. MacLeod also taught music in Liverpool, Fayetteville-Manlius and Syracuse City Public Schools for 10 years.

Jean left public education in 2001 to pursue her life-long dream of opening a music school. She opened Music a la Carte, which taught group music classes to over 60 home school students. At the same time, she maintained a private lesson studio where piano, voice and guitar were taught to another 40 students.

During the lifetime of Music a la Carte, Jean regularly fielded requests to offer music lessons for trumpet, violin, flute and a variety of other instruments. She also received many requests from music teachers who just wanted to teach students without having to set up their own businesses, do the scheduling and other administrative work. Out of these requests came the idea for The Greater Syracuse School of Music. Jean is a member of a mentoring group of music studio owners. Her training has given birth to the idea to open a school where wonderful teachers would be hired to do what they love: teaching music to people. Music lessons on a variety of instruments would be available for students of all ages. The Syracuse community, rich in musical venues, would benefit greatly from such a school.

Jean MacLeod is continually learning about music and music education. She continues to work on new piano works. She took West African dancing and drumming lessons, then went to Ghana in 2006, where she shared music with many Ghanaians.