New location, name planned for Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts

A year of change is underway at the Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts. The growing music academy is preparing to move from its 3,000 square foot S. Main St. location to share a 17,000 square foot location with Conlara School on Jewett Ave., and soon will unveil a new name as well. 

 

"Over time, our larger group programs have needed and wanted to grow, but the space was prohibitive," says Kasia Bielak-Hoops, executive director of the school. "Things were bumping into each other. We found this opportunity and it has flown so smoothly from the beginning."

 

With its primarily after-school programming, partnering with a school was an ideal choice for the Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts. With Conlara's business wrapping up as the music school gets started each day, and the school facility's non-traditional design, even large ensemble practices will be easily accommodated seamlessly. 

 

In addition to new digs, the Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts will soon have a new name. After a series of focus groups, surveys and a voting process, the organization's new identity will be revealed next week. 

 

"The school has been going through a transformational process over the last year," says Bielak-Hoops. "We refocused our mission. We recently went back and looked at our guiding principles. This rebranding is a part of going out to the community to say, 'This is who we are.'"

 

The music school will announce the new name to their community first, will post the announcement to the public via Facebook. The transition to the Conlara School location will begin over the summer and will be complete by August. The school has 250 students enrolled, and Bielak-Hoops hopes to grow that number by about 40 students each year in the new space.