Today we’d like to introduce you to Shelley Dennis.
Hi Shelley, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Lois Reiter founded Academie Musique in 2006 at Temple College in response to a need for affordable arts education in our community. Academie Musique (the Academie) enables and encourages young artists to hone their craft and gain valuable experience, not only in preparation for college or professional performance, but to make the world a more beautiful and kinder place through artistic expression. From its inception, the Academie has had a commitment to providing quality music instruction to deserving students, regardless of their financial circumstances. Our non-profit status gives us the ability to fundraise and apply for grants that help us achieve this goal. Shelley Dennis became the Executive Director in 2015 and has served in this position for over 10 years.
To help bring students to our doors, the Academie fosters an important relationship with the area public school music teachers and our home school population. Our financial assistance program works on a sliding scale with scholarships and tuition assistance available to families on a case-by-case basis, affecting 36% of enrolled students this year. Located in Temple, the Academie is available to students across Central Texas, where 42% of students enrolled do not have access to strong fine arts programming at school, according to parent surveys. During its nineteen-year existence, the Academie has grown to reach over 350 students per year ranging between the ages of 3 and 85, with the great majority being school-age children.
Due to exponential growth and the increasing need for more space, the Academie physically relocated from its previous home at Temple College to an unused church facility in the summer of 2019, leading to a 10% increase in enrollment. Due to the aging of that downtown facility, Academie moved to a local church building in south Temple mid 2025, as we work toward purchasing a permanent “home” for Academie Musique.
Academie programs are developed and executed by five administrators, twenty-four teachers, and many family members who volunteer their time. In addition to being the only local fine arts organization to offer Suzuki strings, orchestra, choral, voice, and theatre instruction, the Academie is proud to compensate their teachers at a sustainable wage which allows for the continuous recruitment and retention of exceptional instructors. The quality of instruction is a top priority for the Academie, in addition to ensuring that teachers are compensated fairly as they inspire future generations of artists.
The Academie currently offers private instruction in violin, viola, cello, double bass, voice, piano, musical theatre, guitar, electric guitar, ukulele, flute, saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, horn, and trombone. We also offer ensemble instruction in orchestra, choir, musical theatre, and early childhood music. In the summer, musical theatre workshops showcase students presenting high-quality musical productions.
The Academie offers unique opportunities for students to train and prepare for a lifetime with music, either as professionals, or as lovers of music, singing in their church choirs, performing in their local community orchestras, on the stage in local civic theatres, or as supporters of the arts as appreciative concert attendees and patrons. Beyond preparing our students for a lifelong love for and appreciation of music, the Academie fosters a sense of community and belonging for hundreds of children each year, and many of our families form abiding friendships.
Our commitment to community partnerships is both a pillar and foundation for everything we do. We have worked diligently to develop and maintain partnerships with other community arts organizations, as well as the public and private schools, and the homeschool community in the area. We believe that we are all stronger and serve our communities better when everyone works together. We were founded to be independent of religious affiliation, which has allowed us to reach people from a broad range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Our biggest struggle was the pandemic shutdown. All of our services had to be moved online, which is not ideal for the performing arts. Our teachers rose to the occasion and were able to adapt and keep lessons and some ensembles online. However, our enrollment suffered during this time as it did everywhere else. Since then, we have slowly regained the momentum that we had prior to 2020. We are proud to say that we were able to retain our teaching staff during that time, and many students continued to study and grow during that difficult time.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We are the only local fine arts organization to offer Suzuki strings, orchestra, choral, voice, and theatre instruction. We have 10 Suzuki certified instructors in multiple instruments.
Also, the Academie is proud to compensate their teachers with a sustainable wage, allowing for the continuous recruitment and retention of exceptional instructors. The quality of instruction is a top priority for the Academie, in addition to ensuring that teachers are compensated fairly as they inspire future generations of artists.
Lastly, we are in our 19th year of existence and have grown from 3 instructors to 24! We now have instructors working for us that grew up in our program, finished higher education degrees and returned to us to teach the next generation. We are a safe environment for all students to grow in their musical development and achieve their goals.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
We have fostered relationships with the local school district fine arts teachers, as well as private schools. When talented people collaborate and cooperate, it enriches the whole community.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.amcentex.org
- Instagram: theacademiemusique
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theacademiemusique
- Other: TikTok @theacademiemusique
