About Rich Music School
MJanuary 2019
Local musician and Cary native Brandon Rich starts Rich Music School.
The school was operated out of a preschool at Cary Park.
We were actively working on transitioning to make this our permanent space.
Spring 2019
We now have 30 students coming for lessons each week!
Our students perform MONTHLY GIGS at Ricci's Trattoria and Los Tres Magueyes and start getting very comfortable performing on stage with our teacher band.
Summer 2019
Our plans to move into the Cary Park space falls through, and we find our new home at Crosspointe Church/NW Cary YMCA!
January 2020
We celebrate our one year anniversary with a HUGE party, and celebrate our community of over 60 young musicians who LOVE to perform!
March 2020
We transition to online lessons due to Covid.
Instead of regular performances, we switch our focus to music videos.
Our students now collaborate with other students and teachers to star in their own music videos!
June 2021
We start offering in-home lessons again, and we are able to have monthly live performances now and our students are THRILLED to perform again!
2022
We started offering piano, guitar, and voice group classes and summer camps at Town of Cary community centers like Page-Walker and The Hive!
2023
We are thrilled and blown away that we are teaching over 150 students each week in several different community centers across Cary and Morrisville. Our team has grown to over ten teachers, and many of our most veteran students are starting to sound like pros, things are getting exciting!
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2024
We started offering group piano classes and preschool music classes at the Fuquay Arts center, which puts our student count close to 250 per week! Our team and community of young musicians is growing fast, and we look forward to making new connections in the community and expanding our student performances to new exciting places!
We invite you to join our community and help us write the rest of our story!
Brandon Rich - Owner & Director
Brandon Rich is a North Carolina native with a passion for music education and all types of music. With over ten years in music education, Brandon has played and taught in a wide variety of musical genres and settings, and he knows through experience what works in music education.
He started learning piano and percussion in middle school, and got very involved with marching band and playing guitar in rock bands in high school. During the summers of 2009 and 2011, Brandon toured the country with a DCI drum and bugle corps, and in 2015 Brandon graduated from North Carolina Central University with a B.A. in Music Education and a B.M. in Jazz Studies.
The year after graduating high school Brandon became Director of the Marching Band at Wake Christian Academy, and stayed busy teaching several other percussion ensembles, marching bands, jazz bands, and private students at various schools through college.
Brandon initially started at NCCU studying the drum set, but fell in love with the vibraphone after seeing Stefon Harris perform as a guest artist at NCCU. During his time at NCCU Brandon had the honor of sharing the stage with renowned musicians such as Branford Marsalis, Maceo Parker, Benny Golson, Joe Chambers, Wallace Roney, and Joey Calderazzo.
Over time Brandon has realized that he enjoys the learning process just as much as playing music, so he is known to play a wide variety of instruments and styles, and he loves to share this passion with the next generation.
He hopes that through performance and education he can raise cultural awareness and help restore the presence of Jazz and American music in our communities.