Meet us where rock ‘n’ roll is a family business
For more than 20 years, young musicians have learned to rock out with skilled instructors at Oak Park's School of Rock.
This family business gives kids — and adults! — the skills they need to play musical instruments, giving them the confidence to perform live. School of Rock provides lessons in guitar, bass, drums and piano and keyboard, as well as in singing, songwriting and performing.
Programs are available for all ages, beginning with School of Rock's "Little Wing," where preschoolers and toddlers learn foundational music skills. After that, the budding rockstars advance on to the "Rookies" classes to begin learning chords, rhythm and song structure. Once those skills are mastered, they move on to "Rock 101," where they begin playing classic rock music.
School of Rock's performance program allows students between the ages of 8 and 18 to play together in group rehearsals, on top of taking customized private lessons. Performance program students often perform live at local Oak Park festivals and events. Rock on!
Oak Park's School of Rock jams Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Amy Renzulli was a mom working in corporate America when her 12-year-old daughter, Abigail, attended her first rock-and-roll summer camp at the Chicago School of Rock. Neither mother nor daughter knew how that summer spent learning to play the bass would change their lives.
Noticing how much her daughter grew from the camp experience - both in confidence and in skillset - Amy opened the franchise Oak Park School of Rock in early 2012, working with her husband, Bob, to covert a 50-year-old warehouse building into a school for young rockers.
Amy used her marketing skills and Bob became the “roadie,” driving the equipment van.
For Abigail, those summer camps playing bass worked out. She graduated high school early to tour with Dalton Rapattoni and to form an L.A.-based neo-soul band. Today you can find her managing the studio at the Old Park School of Rock where she returned to help out with the family business of rock ‘n’ roll.
The School of Rock is located at 219 Lake St. in Oak Park. It’s a five-minute walk from the Ridgeland Stop on the CTA Green Line or a 15-minute drive west of downtown Chicago.
