Famous people's places / Detroit – Midtown
Detroit Community Music School
Closed – archive entry · 2000
A Midtown Detroit music school formed in 1970, where a young Regina Carter began violin lessons at age four using the Suzuki method.
01 / The story of this place
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The Detroit Community Music School was formed in 1970 through the merger of two older institutions, the Detroit Institute of Musical Arts and the Detroit Music Settlement School, and operated out of a Woodward Avenue building in Midtown Detroit. The school taught neighborhood children of all backgrounds, and among its youngest students was Regina Carter, whose mother enrolled her here at age four after she showed an ear for melody at the piano. Carter learned violin at the school through the Suzuki method, which builds musicianship through listening, repetition and imitation rather than starting with sheet music, and she went on to become one of jazz's leading violinists. The school later became part of the College for Creative Studies in 1984, and by 2000 its programs had been folded into Marygrove College's Institute of Music and Dance, ending its run as an independent institution.
- Formed in 1970 from two older Detroit music schools
- Based on Woodward Avenue in Midtown Detroit
- Regina Carter began Suzuki-method violin lessons here at age four
- Joined the College for Creative Studies in 1984
- Folded into Marygrove College's music programs by 2000
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- Regina Carter born 1966 · jazz violinist
Studied here
Where her mother enrolled her in violin lessons at age four.
Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-09-25
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