By Gabbie Burton
Contributing Writer

For David Mattock, bringing music to the community is an everyday endeavor. 

As owner of the Mattock School of Music near Kennett Square since 2011 -- and as a longtime musician and teacher himself -- he’s used to classes, performances and just about anything else that spreads the art of music. However, when there’s an insatiable love for music, the idea of expanding its reach even further will always be too exciting to ignore.

Enter in the matrix of Mattock’s methodology the school’s new music garden, which officially opened in a ceremony on Oct. 13: three permanent instruments and an earthen stage open to public use on a previously empty plot of land at the school. It is a concept, now realized, that became possible when events and people aligned together.

“The idea that we could create some kind of funky, weird, new, music garden has been floating around since we bought the property,” Mattock said. “It came more to fruition whenever I was talking to my friend from high school just a few years back and I went to his drum building company up in Boston and we were just talking about all kinds of crazy stuff, and I mentioned this idea to him, and he was very much intrigued by it.”

Mattock’s friend -- Bill Whitney -- owns Calderwood Percussion in Boston and contributed his skills to the project in the design and execution of the three instruments now in the garden.

“The last piece is that I was talking to one of my students, Ben Barsotti,” Mattock said. “Ben is 14 years old, and he was all stressed out about trying to find an Eagle Scout project, and I had just been telling him about this crazy idea to build outdoor musical instruments. He asked me, ‘Is there any chance that I could do that for my Eagle Scout project?’ From there, it basically all came together, because Ben was the final piece of the plan that we needed.”

The school also received fundraising assistance from If Not for Music, a non-profit based in West Chester, who helped fund the project.

The garden’s instruments -- one chordal, one melodic and one bass -- are each about six feet wide and paddle-based instruments that are meant to be played together to sound like a band. Mattock hopes students take advantage of the garden and hopes to use the space to teach music classes in the future.

“At its most basic level, I hope that my students, whenever they come for their lessons, show up 15 minutes early and go out and play music and just make noise,” Mattock said. “It’s the coolest thing in the world for young musicians like these students to just make noise. I would like to eventually start teaching how to play these instruments -- especially to younger kids in group classes -- because they are very accessible for younger students to learn music on.”

The music garden’s opening ceremony drew about 60 attendees and featured a performance by Wilmington-based singer Sharon Sable and a presentation on the instruments and how to play them. The garden is open to the public and Mattock encourages community members visit the school and play the instruments whenever they want.

“I hope that it normalizes this idea that music is something that doesn’t have to be exclusive, that it can be something like an outdoor instrument that people just randomly play,” Mattock said. “I hope that we make it a priority everywhere in the community that music can be a part of it in other ways than just going to see a band or going to the orchestra, that there's other ways to access music – and then it’s just fun.”

Mattock, who’s originally from New Hampshire, spent the beginning of his professional musical career in Philadelphia. After he got his Undergraduate degree in Jazz Piano Performance from Temple University and his Masters in Jazz History from Rutgers-Newark, Mattock started working as a professor and performer in the city and continues to teach piano part time at the University of Pennsylvania and performs about 75-100 shows a year. 

Although Mattock has the big city musical experience, he recognizes the Kennett area for its dedication and love of music.

“Whenever you don’t have the numbers like you do in Philadelphia, sometimes it doesn’t look like it’s as strong as the community but pound for pound, person for person, there is a lot of musical interest in this area,” he said. “There are venues and restaurants and bars that hold music. There’s the Kennett Symphony Orchestra, The Kennett Flash, music programs and musicals at schools and many families who want their kids to be involved in music.

“Across the board, this area has a really strong musical culture to it.”

Mattock hopes his school and new musical garden will continue to grow that musical culture in the community. Whether young or old, professional or beginner, anyone and everyone is welcome to try the musical garden or even pick up an instrument and go all in.

“I firmly believe that music is not for just the gifted and talented, that music is for everybody, that we should all be learning how to play music,” he said.

The Mattock School of Music is located at 320 Kennett Pike, Chadds Ford, Pa. 19317. To learn more about classes, instruction and the outdoor music garden, visit www.mattockschoolofmusic.com or call (484) 734-0329.

To contact Contributing Writer Gabbie Burton, email [email protected].