Vance Music strives to develop skilled, creative, well-rounded, critical, and confident individuals through music education.
About Vance Music: Looking At Our History
Vance Music History: 1952
Vance Music was founded by Chester S. Vance Jr. in Kansas City, Kansas in 1952.
Chester, known to his friends & students as Chet, studied piano & Bach with Jan Chiapusso, organ & theory with Laurel Everette Anderson, violin with Raymond Cerf, and viola with T. Burns Westman. He studied choral conducting with Clayton Krehbiel & Robert Shaw.
Chet was a WWII veteran & toured as the pianist with the United Service Organization Shows. He was the pianist for the Oklahoma String Quartet & served as concertmaster in school & civic orchestras.
Prior to the foundation of Vance Music, Chet was the former Chairman of the Keyboard & String Departments at Quigley Music Studios, at that time the largest private music studio in the Midwest.
Vance Music History: 1972
The studio moved to Wichita, Kansas in 1972 to serve South Central Kansas. Rex, the current Vance Music President, received a scholarship to study violin at Wichita State University, so the family moved to support him.
Vance Music History: 2007
In 2007, Vance Music expanded its reach by offering online lessons. The idea at the time was to offer students in western Kansas access to private lessons, as teachers were few and far between. Alas, at that time, western Kansas was still on dial-up and the studio had to wait some time before we could provide lessons to that area.
About Vance Music: Who We Are Today
Vance Music: Present Day
Today, Rex, Jan, Meghan, & Marissa Vance teach as a family at Vance Music. They work together to provide students quality music education through weekly one-on-one lessons, and monthly recitals. In addition, they support students through workshops with guest clinicians, various community auditions, music festivals, and competitions.
Locally, the studio draws students from a 100-mile radius, & 10 school districts. Altogether, the studio regularly serves about 100 students per week. Our teaching staff, who all received instruction from Chester, is comprised of talented musicians with over 100 years of accumulated teaching experience.
