As we celebrate Levine Music’s 50th Anniversary, we’re going back to where it all began.
In 1976, founders Ruth Cogen, Diana Engel, and Jaclin Marlin set out to create a different kind of music school in Washington, one built around excellent teaching and the belief that music education should be available to everyone. They named the school in memory of their friend Selma M. Levine and established it as a nonprofit, with scholarships helping make music education accessible from the very beginning.
“We knew that we wanted it to be people who could afford it and people who couldn’t,” Ruth recalls. “We wanted it to be available for everybody.” They also understood that a meaningful musical education wasn’t only for those who would become professional musicians. Whether students continued playing throughout their lives or simply became enthusiastic listeners, music could remain part of who they were.
Your Levine Story
Do you have a Levine story, performance memory, teacher tribute, or special moment you’d like to tell us about? We invite you to record and submit your own memory as part of our ongoing anniversary project.