April 22, 2025 •Anya Wells
Speaker 1 (00:11):
My name is Jessica Catron and I started a music school called Grow Music Missoula. We've been going since 2016, and we provide music lessons to people of all ages, mostly youth. So the classes we currently offer start at two years old, and we go all the way through the school years, and then we have some adult beginning classes as well, and we mostly teach strings, so it's violin, viola, cello, and group classes, ensembles, and some private lessons. The mission of Grow Music is to foster personal growth and belonging through youth centered musical education, musical development, and really that's what inspires everything I do. I'm a musician, I'm a cellist, and the first part of my professional life was as a performer, and I mostly, I don't know, I got to be the kind of musician that I always wanted to be, which wasn't really a classical musician. And so I worked mostly in studios playing for commercials and films. This was in Los Angeles where I spent 15 years and I toured with rock bands, and I toured with punk bands. And I don't know, it just really, it made me want to pay that forward, I guess, to inspire young creatives to just be the best versions of themselves. I think some skills that I possess that help with the business itself, with the school, well, I am creative, so that's kind of a no brainer running an arts organization.
(02:19):
I think I hold a lot of curiosity. I love to be a learner myself, so I like to keep taking professional development and to keep things innovative so that I feel like I can spread what I know, but then also keep things moving forward. I think I possess vision. I literally see things that I want to create, and I don't know, I think I'm a really good communicator. I like to be in communication with all the students. I like to be in communication with families that we work with. So there's two of us who are employees of Grow Music, and then we contract with several other local teachers. During Covid, there were about 11 of us, so surprisingly we grew a lot at that time because there was a large need for online lessons when we were all locked down. People wanted opportunities for their kids when they were in their bedrooms for way too many hours a day.
(03:42):
So we were giving a lot of music lessons and yeah, we had about 11 teachers at that point. I learned pretty quickly that I, being an administrator is, not my favorite thing. So once we were free of our homes and such, I scaled back and just turned it more into a community music school again. So currently two of us, and then there's I think three other teachers who are contracted for this fall. I mean, really for Grow Music, I'm sort of wearing all the hats in the business, and so it does mean I have to do administration. I'm doing all the operations, I'm doing all the fundraising and marketing and, how one gets better? I would just say I've just done it because I've had to. Maybe it's curiosity, but it's also just a need of moving your projects forward every day a little bit. And that involves all of it, all the fun stuff, but all the stuff that just needs to get done, I think it works okay. I mean, I said that I don't necessarily like it, but I think I do it okay. So just, yeah, it's like doing your dishes. You just kind of have to do it. So being a small business means that you're running the ship.
(05:17):
Communication though is key, right? And knowing when you need to ask for help, knowing when you need to reach out and get support, ask questions. It's just not being afraid to also say, I don't really know what I'm doing right now. And just figuring it out. And thankfully, we have a wonderful community and I have a lot of great, I don't know people in my life who I've been inspired by and who I learned from and who I can ask those questions to. So I feel fortunate in that way. Being a music school, we are a community school. I mean, it's like the serving happens both ways.
(06:07):
We need the community to keep the music going, but then I know for me, it's just really important that I give back as much as I feel I'm gaining through the business. So Grow Music, starting about, I guess it's a year and a half ago, became fiscally sponsored by Arts Missoula. So we have kind of a portion or a side of the business that is more based in charitable giving, and I see that as a huge community thing that we're able to offer. I mean, we're able to raise funds to, I believe that music and arts, access to music and arts should be a right for everyone. And so to be able to provide that to anyone regardless of financial resources, I want to make it as available and affordable to all kids and all people. So we have a scholarship program. We're currently grant funded.
(07:30):
We're in our third year of grant funding and fundraising for a program I call Crescendo Club, and that is currently at Porter Middle School. And then this year we're hoping to grow into another year at Russell. We were there last year and then possibly Hawthorne Elementary School. And that's just bringing string clinicians into the schools working with full classes, and it's just, we fund it. We hire the teachers. And so to me, that's a community move or we're trying to support give back and also just allow more access. But yeah, it definitely goes both ways, for sure. Yeah. So as far as fundraising goes, Grow Music raises funds throughout the year. We have a music series called Grow Music Presents. It's a free music series and it's youth led and focusing and celebrating young performers. It's a free event, but it's also a fundraiser for music scholarships.
(08:56):
We have a program called Music Buddies, and that's to raise money for kids who have been recommended for music lessons, who don't currently possess the financial resources to take lessons. It's an expensive thing to have regular lessons in anything. So that's what our series is for. We also, this year, Missoula Gives, a large portion of what we raised there goes to Crescendo Club, which is string clinicians in the schools. And then we are on our third year of a grant from the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Before I lived in Missoula, I lived in Los Angeles for 15 years, and part of the work that I did there was teaching through Youth Orchestra, Los Angeles, which is funded by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. And so I have some connections just through my former teaching years there. And when I was building Grow Music and just that it always had sort of a charitable community aspect to it.
(10:14):
We were able to apply for this re-granting initiative through them, and what they offer is helping smaller music schools who are doing very charitable work. So that's a requirement for getting the grant. But we applied and we've gotten it for three years now. So it's been amazing. And with the grant also comes a whole bunch of professional development and regular meetings with the cohort. I think Grow Music is one out of 20 organizations that they fund, and all of these music schools scattered throughout the US, but they're mostly on the coast. So I think the closest one to Montana is either Chicago or maybe Seattle. So yeah, it's easy to feel like a little isolated bubble sometimes in a small community. But yeah, I think that's where the community ideas expands far beyond just the local, but keeping connections with like-minded people and people who are trying to do positive things, especially for youth.
(11:32):
So the challenges are ongoing, the obstacles are ongoing, but I think something that really arrived to my knowing or just to, I became conscious earlier this year. I was experiencing burnout. I was experiencing just feeling overwhelmed and just never being able to feel like I was completing things as well as I wanted to. So I would say a big challenge or obstacle that I feel like I've met pretty well is just simply saying, I'm enough or what I've done with that is enough. And I don't always have to be growing. I don't always have to be thinking of bigger scale. I don't always have to be thinking of making more, doing more, and it seems so simple, but I think really believing it has helped so much and just maybe the impact that grow music is going for in this community doesn't have to do with volume, but it's more quality.
(12:59):
So yeah, I think that's a big one for me. And I feel like we'll see, we're still moving into a new school year, but I'd like to say that I'm entering this new year with holding that I guess in my pocket. Being a creative person and a person who has a lot of visions for what I would like the ideal creative community music school to look like. Yeah, it can get really big really quickly, and I can be flooded with ideas and with things that I want to do. But I think as far as mindset and just deciding when something is enough, I mean, I'm still working on it very much, but I think back to some professional development that I was a part of where it was all online, but I was in Zoom rooms with EDs of music schools that were much larger than what I was doing or what I was a part of. And it was so easy to look at that and think, oh, well, that's where I'm headed, or that's what I'm aspiring to maybe.
(14:33):
But a big part of that was also community building and just getting to know each other and the challenges that we work with and just the people we're serving. And I learned through that time that no matter what level you are, those challengers are really the same. They just become maybe on a larger scale. And so I think being small and already feeling really strapped for time and for resources, they're just, yeah, it was really just a need that I had to take care of my own mental health and my own just availability. I also have a family, so it's like I want to be a part of this community outside of just working for it and working in my business. So maybe it's just through time and through experiencing feeling like you're doing too much, where you finally have to dig your heels in and say, okay, I just need to back up and breathe a little bit and take care of myself and sleep enough, and then I can serve better.
(15:48):
I can serve on a deeper level than a wider level maybe. And the goal is to just try to offer transformational services. That's what I see music as being. I know it has been for me offering this transformational service, but maybe not to as many people as I would love to see that happen. But if I can change a few lives for the better, I feel like that's been worth it. When I think of things that have happened through grow music that have been really meaningful or specific cases, I mean, first of all, I just love the students that come through. I love the families mean, just so the relationships that develop can be lifelong. And to me that's really special. It always feels very authentic, and we're connecting through creative things. So that's just a general. As far as specific stories of things that have happened, well, something that I feel really proud of is another part of our grant funding funds a mentorship program.
(17:11):
So it's always been really important to me that what we're sort of imparting on younger people, supplies and mentors, gives them tools that they can use in their lives. And if I can teach someone to take over my job eventually, then that's great. And so this mentorship program, even before I was calling it a mentorship program, it was happening. I specifically think of a couple students who have graduated and one student is teaching through Grow Music. She's teaching lessons, and she often takes part in our ensembles and plays with the younger kids all the time. Another student has auditioned into some really big national programs, and it's what she has aimed to do. And that's been really fun to see her growth and her drive. And then a third one that comes to mind that I just feel so proud of is there was a middle school student early last year who hadn't even been playing his instrument for very long, but he plays cello, and he was in his middle school orchestra, and he came to his lesson and he told me that he wanted to play a solo with his school orchestra backing him up.
(18:57):
And I was like, oh, okay, great. What's your teacher think? He's like, no, I want to choose a song. I want to have a part in making the arrangement and everything. So we ended up talking and he chose Feeling Good by Nina Simone. And, little side note is I had already made an arrangement of this tune, and I think he just really enjoyed the song. So I helped him and we made the arrangement to work for his middle school orchestra. I reached out to his middle school orchestra teacher, and he was totally down with it. And yeah, they rehearsed it a whole bunch, and he played Nina on his cello, and it was so cool. And the whole auditorium gave him a standing ovation. And I mean, he just worked his butt off. But it was so cool because it was totally led by him and to me, again, it's just like my job is just to facilitate. It feels so good to not just be like, do this and this is how you do it. And I mean, there needs to be a certain part of that when you're learning a craft. But yeah, when a kid can take it and run with it and make it their thing, it's like the best.
Missoula Gives & Bitterroot Gives
Grow Music Missoula is participating in Missoula Gives, a 26-hour celebration connecting generous community members with the causes they care about. Donating to Grow Music Missoula helps fund two initiatives: Sustaining Crescendo Club's Impact: Positive Youth Development and Grow Music Presents Performance Series: Empowering Local Youth Through Musical Collaboration.
Your donation enables the continuation of these programs, ensuring young musicians receive support to develop their talents, passions, goals, and the confidence to reach their full potential. Specifically, it helps fund scholarships, support the presence of string clinicians in schools, maintain the mentorship program, and cultivate a performance series that enriches and empowers creative youth in our community.
If you are interested in hearing more of Jessica's story, you can read the blog here. You can follow her on instagram @growmusicmissoula or check out her website.
Professional photos were taken by KC Lostetter Photography. Follow her on Instagram @kclostetter.
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Interview by Anya Wells, RMWBC Marketing Assistant and Storytelling Extraordinaire
