Pianist and composer Warren Park founded the West Bank School of Music
in 1970 to offer an alternative to the traditional Western Arts Music
(also known as Classical) education paradigm of the time.
From the beginning, our school has been an important contributor to the
rich musical heritage of the West Bank and the city of Minneapolis. We
were the first music school in Minneapolis founded specifically to
address the need for music education in popular and roots music styles
like blues, jazz, folk, rock and roll, R & B, Celtic, and country.
Our role as a gathering place for acclaimed folk and roots artists of
the 1970s is chronicled in the names of musicians such as Bonnie Raitt,
Spider John Koerner, Willie Murphy, and Dave Ray who came here to jam
and socialize. Garrison Keillor chose many of his early performers for
A Prairie Home Companion from among our faculty and their friends.
Keillor featured many West Bank School of Music faculty on his popular
radio show including Bill Hinkley and Judy Larson, Pop Wagner, Dakota
Dave Hull, Peter Ostroushko, Butch Thompson, Mary DuShane, and Adam
Granger. (To find more information about West Bank music history, visit
www.westbankboogie.com.)
We have been active participants in the cultural and educational life
of the Twin Cities for four decades. Our free public concerts,
workshops, demonstrations, and school and community outreach programs
have touched the lives of more than a quarter million people. WBSM has
received proclamations from the city of Minneapolis, Hennepin County,
and the state of Minnesota for its contributions to the arts.
WEST BANK SCHOOL of MUSIC 1813 South 6th St. Minneapolis, MN. 55454 (612) 333-6651 info@westbankmusic.org
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