Photograph by Caleb Kenna
The Pickens Family
Zim, Sophie, Rowan, and Willa
In its ten years, the Middlebury Community Music Center (MCMC) has built a thriving community of music makers and lovers. Students of all ages and skill levels have gathered at the house on Main Street to enrich their lives and the lives of their loved ones. For the Pickens family, music lessons at MCMC have become a point of connection and motivation for all. Zim, Sophie, and their kids Rowan and Willa are inspiring examples of the ways in which music, and MCMC, can be integrated into a family unit.
Zim and Sophie both grew up in Addison County and knew of Sadie Brightman as a talented musician. When they returned to Vermont as adults, Sadie was well on her way to building MCMC into what it is today. It offered a hub of teachers and a diversity of instruments and reminded Zim of the inspiring performances that Sadie had given when they were growing up together. Zim and Sophie were excited to sign up Rowan and Willa and support Sadie’s vision.
However, both Zim and Sophie had their own regrets about music lessons from their own childhood. Zim wished he had taken music lessons earlier, saying “there was no MCMC back then.” Sophie had been tripped up by the technical challenges of learning to read music as a child, even though she really loved music and sounding things out by ear. Now, as a parent, she was concerned about exposing her kids to similar experiences that could risk turning them away from music.
What Zim and Sophie found at MCMC was a nurturing environment that supported their kids through the frustrations and challenges of learning music. Additionally, MCMC provided a community that celebrated everyone’s progress across a wide range of ages and skill levels. Some of the family’s favorite elements of MCMC are the homey details of the house and its decor, which add to the welcoming environment.
Welcomed into the MCMC community as parents, Zim and Sophie both decided to take lessons alongside their kids. They reflected that this decision was incredibly humbling and helped them let go of some assumptions about what being an “adult” entails. By relinquishing a need for immediate mastery, their lessons took on elements of creative liberation and therapy. Sophie and Zim have both experienced their lessons as a catalyst for revisiting old limitations and fears and discovering new approaches to creativity and practice.
Zim has noticed that Rowan and Willa’s lessons have instilled a sense of agency and creative confidence in them. Rowan, who now can play melodies from movies and improvise on the piano, reflects that music is “something that makes me special because… I have a hobby to do and [can] play whenever I want to….It makes it feel like another unique thing I can do is to play music.”
The whole family has been able to share in this creative confidence. One meaningful moment for them was when Willa discovered a monarch caterpillar in a field. Sophie had been working on a piece called “Metamorphosis” and was excited to share it with Willa in honor of her discovery. For the Pickens family, their collective commitment to practice and sharing music has become woven into their daily lives.
Taking lessons at MCMC as a family has helped Sophie and Zim get a different perspective on their parenting as well. Watching your children struggle through new skills, or push back against the requirements of a practice schedule can be a big challenge. Learning to find a balance between providing structure and remaining hands-off and trusting the process has allowed Sophie and Zim to discover new ways of connecting to and supporting their kids in their musical journey.
Coming into MCMC for lessons creates a sense of support and community that inspires the Pickens family. Rowan likes hearing the sounds of all the different lessons happening around the building, and Zim notices how the space becomes a meeting place for a community connected through a passion for music - “it gives you a little sense that learning is happening and the notes are in the air. It just makes for a nice ambience that I find inspiring and uplifting.”
The Pickens Family is also excited about the next chapter in the life of MCMC. They all see MCMC as an engine for fostering community through music. The children love the supportive atmosphere of the monthly performance salons and the parents see more informal gatherings like open houses as ways of activating their own interest in new kinds of music and instruments.
In all of these ways, MCMC continues to foster a supportive and collaborative community for the Pickens family. This is what makes it a unique part of their life in Vermont. Sophie describes entering MCMC as “a different world,” and not just because of the vintage decor. It is a world committed to cultivating self-expression and creative exploration at any age. These experiences have lasting effects that are not just limited to the time spent in the MCMC.
Now, Willa even wants to grow up to be a music teacher.
