Meet Donna and Charles Silber

Today we’d like to introduce you to Donna and Charles Silber.

Hi Donna and Charles, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My husband and business partner Chuck and I are music fanatics; in fact, we’ve attended well over 300 concerts together. Chuck has been playing in rock bands since he was 15 years old. After several long-distance career-driven moves over the years, opening a School of Rock gave us an opportunity to choose a location not based on the business opportunity alone, but also somewhere that they truly wanted to live.

With its strong music culture, vibrant performance scene, and warm community vibe, we quickly fell in love with Fort Collins and knew that it would be the perfect place to open our School of Rock. When we opened in August 2020, the excitement and support of the community immediately surpassed all of our expectations – and continue to do so.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We broke ground in March 2020, and the very next day the first Covid-19 lockdown orders were issued – so that was a rocky start to our journey! Building and then operating our new business during the unprecedented world events of that time certainly added a lot of unexpected complexity – and stress to the process.

When we opened our doors to students that August, we did so with a myriad of health and safety precautions in place, such as installing protective barriers and air purification systems in all of our lesson and rehearsal rooms, and strictly limiting our class sizes to allow for social distancing.

When we look back on it now, we are immensely grateful for the support we received from the community – and very proud that we were able to provide a much-needed social and educational outlet for our students during that difficult time.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
School of Rock is Music School reimagined. We provide students of all ages a unique and exciting music education experience where they not only receive weekly one-on-one lessons on guitar, bass, drum, keys, or vocals but also return for weekly band rehearsals with a group of their peers – leading to performing live on stage in real rock concerts at real rock venues!

While the opportunity to play iconic venues like The Mishawaka, The Aggie Theatre, and many more is thrilling, to say the least, our philosophy is that we put on concerts to teach music – not teach music to put on concerts – which helps us to encourage learning in a supportive environment where students of all skill levels are comfortable and engaged. This patented approach called the School of Rock Method, builds musical proficiency, teamwork skills, and confidence at the same time.

School of Rock is a music school for all skill levels, ages, and musical aspirations. With students ranging from toddlers to adults, School of Rock is where music students grow into real musicians. We truly take the music school concept to the next level!

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
School of Rock helps aspiring musicians master skills, unleash creativity, and develop the tools they need to thrive in life.

Founded as a single school in Philadelphia, PA in 1998, School of Rock has become a rapidly growing international franchise with over 320 schools open and in development across nine global markets. Since 2009, the School of Rock has grown our system-wide student count from 4,000 to over 60,000 – with no signs of slowing down.

The rapid growth of our Fort Collins location has led us to open a second location in Loveland later this year.

Contact Info:

• Website:fortcollins.schoolofrock.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fortcollins.schoolofrock
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SchoolofRockFortCollins
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgBmnxRRv5MXooZQO7rcWmA 

Image Credits
https://www.facebook.com/BackstageFlashLiveConcertPhotography/