European School of Music & Chess In the News!

European School of Music & Chess Marks 30 Years

October 11, 2023

The music school was founded in Atlanta, 1993 by concert pianist and music professor, Angela Oyzboyd, an immigrant from Eastern Europe.

A piano duet, “Flight of the Bumblebee,” by N. Rimsky-Korsakov, performed by Vedant, an advanced student, with his teacher, Jo, at the ESM 30th Celebration Concert. With this virtuoso piece, Vedant, who is from an Indian family, is developing his velocity for a challenging piano competition in the spring.

Music is like love – to feel its greatest effect, it should be shared with someone. And like love, a passion for music can be nurtured so it flourishes and grows into its own unique beauty.

The European School of Music & Chess, located in Sandy Springs, does just that. Led by its founder, Angela Oyzboyd, the school has been nurturing young students’ interests in music for decades and is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

Gavriel, a talented violin student from a family of Jewish immigrants, performing Vivaldi’s masterpiece, Double Violin Concerto in A minor, at ESM 30th Birthday Celebration Concert.

The European School of Music & Chess method of teaching significantly develops music abilities, focus, concentration and attention, and an understanding of music theory. The students also learn relaxation techniques that can aid in their performances as well as their daily lives.

“It is foundational knowledge about basic techniques that involve complete relaxation of body and arms, and using gravity to make a full tone that could express, for example, the genius music of Beethoven and Chopin. If this technique is learned from the beginning, young children can easily do this, portraying the character and the feelings in the songs they play,” Oyzboyd said, adding that the lessons apply not just to classical music, but to all forms, including folk, jazz and popular music."

A talented beginner piano student, Aina, who came from Spain, playing in a chamber trio with piano teacher Susanna, and violin teacher Mariya, in a rendition of Vivaldi’s “Autumn” as ESM teaches how to portray nature in music and how to play in an ensemble that is enjoyable and inspiring for children.

Oyzboyd said the students can learn how to make beautiful singing tones that imitate the human voice simply by using the piano.

“It doesn’t depend on musical talent. Any student could do this if they follow this teaching,” Oyzboyd said. “This allows them to play with a panel of colors and inspires them to practice as they enjoy the end results.”

The school’s curriculum stresses that the most important goal is to teach the students how to connect with the music they are playing and make it their own.

Oyzboyd and her staff are proud of the litany of alumni who have graduated from the ESM and been accepted into leading conservatories and universities, including Harvard University, Columbia University, Oberlin Conservatory, the Eastman School of Music at Rochester University, Manhattan School of Music, Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University, Boston Conservatory, Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, University of Edinburgh, Duke University, Cornell University, Washington & Lee University, Amherst College, Middlebury College, Emory University, California Institute of Technology, University of California-Berkeley, University of Chicago, Brandeis University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and more.

From the ESM teacher’s ensemble performance that was included at the end of the concert — they are singing and playing “Happy 30th Birthday” to the school.

“Our teachers from Europe and the United States have been working together at the European School of Music for three decades. They are highly educated and trained professionals, united by a mutual teaching philosophy and European teaching method.”

Oyzboyd noted that the European School of Music & Chess is a 501(c)(3) — nonprofit educational organization. The school, along with the Southeast Nature Society, are part of The Conservatoire, a nonprofit established in 1993.

The school is looking to expand its facilities and is currently accepting donations and financial contributions. The ESM depends on volunteer support as well as the community’s generosity to help fund concerts, facility services, equipment needs, and scholarships for students identified as especially gifted and students from families who cannot afford music lessons.

The European School of Music and Chess teachers Jo, Rosie, Mariya and Susanna with their happy students after a successful performance at one of the 30th Anniversary recitals, on the stage in front of two grand pianos in ESM’s own beautiful recital hall.

“One of our goals is to build an outside auditorium in a nature setting on our campus. This will enable us to share our performers’ beautiful music with more people from the community, in addition to our indoor performances, and to experience the feeling of becoming one with music and nature .”

The ESM 30th Birthday Concert uniquely featured music pieces inspired by nature for almost all performances. By portraying nature in music, students develop their imagination, creativity and artistry while having fun practicing and sharing their music with the audience.

Oyzboyd said she chose the name, The Conservatoire, as it reflects her school’s mission: teaching students to understand the importance of conserving beautiful music and beautiful nature, and developing a lasting love for both, and passing on this spiritual value of music and nature to their children.

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The European School of Music & Chess is located at 5187 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs.

For more information, call (404) 255-8382 or visit www.euroschoolmusic.org/index.

European School of Music & Chess Marking 25 Years

Everett Catts
Aug 20, 2018

From left, Daniel Cohen, a 2012 graduate of the European School of Music and Chess, plays piano with his niece, Louie, 2. Anthony Jones, a student at the European School of Music and Chess, plays the drums.

When Angela Oyzboyd started the European School of Music and Chess Aug. 28, 1993, she had little money but took a risk to fulfill a huge dream.

Next week the Sandy Springs school is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

“It was my biggest dream, coming to a free country to create a music school the way I had envisioned it,” said Oyzboyd, who grew up in Eastern Europe. “Looking back, I don’t know how I managed to do it. No one told me how to do it. It was my vision and freedom, and my desire to bring to Atlanta the unique techniques that I mastered after many years of training with some of the best piano professors in Eastern Europe."

"Nothing like this existed in Atlanta. I wanted to create a place for learning music, where children and adults could learn how to play in the right way, without suffering the repetition of playing a bunch of scales, learning how to feel the music and make a beautiful sound and at the same time enjoying the learning process."

“I wanted to give students the opportunity to develop their inborn abilities to their full potential even if they don’t have a noticeable music talent by adjusting to their capabilities and desires. To carry out the treasure of classical music, enriching people’s lives with its spiritual wealth. To give to the next generation what I got from my teachers, so that treasure will continue to live.”

Oyzboyd said music is the only thing that benefits both the intuitive and logical sides of the brain, “so it contributes to the educational development of the child.” She added Albert Einstein proved her theory by playing the violin from age 6 to his death.

“My discovery of the theory of relativity was the result of musical perception,” Einstein said.

The school started with just two teachers – Oyzboyd and her mother, Lyudmila – and grew to 12 teachers in the decade. The school also gave private music lessons at Jackson, Garden Hills and Barnwell elementary schools in Buckhead and Johns Creek.

The school, which was located on East Shadowlawn Road in Buckhead during its first five years, moved to a larger facility, including an acoustically designed recital hall, on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs, where it still sits. It opened with a large concert two days after Oyzboyd’s birthday and two years after she moved to America.

“I established a place of art where kids could learn to combine that classical music heritage with American culture,” she said. “(Learning these classical techniques enable people to play any kind of music, including popular music and jazz, and to even play it better.)”

Oyzboyd said seeing the school turn 25 is “highly rewarding because the school is my heart and my child.”

“And it’s especially rewarding to see the accomplishments and successes of our students, to see them 15 years after they graduated, to see what they accomplished in life, including three highly successful musicians,” she said, adding she’s equally proud of the graduates who took up non-musical professions.

Judging by her former students, in messages posted to the school’s website (unless otherwise noted), she has certainly accomplished her mission.

“The European School of Music played an integral role in my development as a musician. I would not be where I am today without their teaching, mentorship and patience,” said graduate Drew Silverstein, a Hollywood composer of several films’ music and co-founder and CEO of Amper Music.

Graduate Benjamin Warsaw, PhD., a classical pianist, composer and professor of music (piano) at Georgia Southern University’s Savannah campus (formerly Armstrong Atlantic State University), said, “The (school) helped shape the musician that I am today. From my studies at the school I learned how to develop my own individual voice at the piano and was offered a unique approach to music and art. The techniques and methods I acquired prepared me for my journey as a pianist in the professional music world.”

Graduate Christina Theodoris, MD, PhD., a pediatrician at Boston Children Hospital, added, “The school taught me about the meaning behind each song, the emotions in it, not just the notes ... everything that I’ve learned at the school will stay with me forever.”

Daniel Cohen, who graduated from the school in 2012, the same year he graduated from Riverwood International Charter School, is 25 and works as an analyst with Angel Oak Capital Advisors, an Atlanta financial investment firm. Cohen, who started attending the music school when he was 5, said in an interview it’s had a huge impact on his life.

“I played piano all the time,” he said. “I have a keyboard in my room. It’s multipronged impact. The skill I still use. I used to play in a band. In high school I took AP music theory and IB music, which are both college-level classes. If I were a music major in college, those courses would have counted as credit. It really gave me a leg up in those courses on other students because the school focuses a lot on music theory.

“It helped me in my schoolwork in that aspect. Another would be my passion and appreciation for classical music. There’s not a lot of 25-year-old kids who listen to Chopin and Beethoven in their spare time, but I do because I enjoy it and because I studied them.”

In an interview, Cohen’s father, Michael, said going to the music school helped in numerous ways.

“I think the European School of Music's unique approach to learning music helped him with his school work, especially his math,” he said. “Also, when he got to play at (his regular school), it helped with his self-esteem. … Overall, it was a really good experience for his whole family. Learning to play an instrument like that is a lifetime experience. Hearing him learn to play, I’m really glad I did it. It was the best gift that I could have given to him.”

Oyzboyd thanked her teachers, some of which have been there for 22 or 23 years, for their “dedication and passion.” The school, which offers classes for children as young as 5, plans to offer private music appreciation lessons for children as young as 4 and a new program that will include mothers and toddlers in a sing-a-long.

The school is celebrating its anniversary with a special discounted enrollment package and will perform Sept. 22 at 3 p.m. at the Sandy Springs Festival’s Cultural Corner. In addition, Oyzboyd said she hopes the school can do more public concerts like the one it performed in June at Chastain Park. Chastain has a piano provided by Play Me Again Pianos, a nonprofit that donates pianos for public use.

Also, in conjunction with the Southeast Nature Society, the school will host an event on music and nature to show the connection between the two, with a student who is a big nature enthusiast, Nov. 4 at 4:30 pm. It will include an educational talk about nature and nature-inspired composers as well as performances of their pieces by our students and teachers. Free and open to the public.

The school is also starting a new program with a student music club to meet weekly to play together popular music in an ensemble band format (piano, drums, guitar and vocal), and is inviting students to join.

For more information, visit www.euroschoolmusic.org

The Conservatoire is an education organization that is promoting the preservation of music and classical music as well the preservation of nature

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