July 3, 2025

A music school in Harrisburg will expand its space and begin offering a unique subscription service.

Tilghman’s Academy of Music opened in 2018 and has maintained its desire to build community through music, co-owner Kaitlyn Tilghman said.

The business offers private music lessons for strings, woodwinds, drums, piano, guitar and voice, as well as group classes and instrument repairs and rentals. It’s in a retail center at 220 S. Cliff Ave. on the north end of Harrisburg.

The academy focuses on the community’s homeschooled population while offering classes both during the day and after school.

“I’m a homeschooling mom as well, and I have soon-to-be-four kids,” Tilghman said before their baby girl was born in late June. “So I know when you’re signing up your kids for activities — especially music — it’s very expensive.”

Tilghman and her husband, Chris, both studied music in college and now run the academy together. She also was a middle school band and orchestra director.

“We have a lot of kids in the community — a lot of big families,” Tilghman said. “Many of those families homeschool and are looking for affordable activities to engage their children.”

In August, Tilghman’s Academy plans to introduce a subscription system that will offer families a full schedule of music-related activities each month. Called a Homeschool Pass, this effort has been in the works for over a year as quality instructors and classes were sought out, according to Tilghman.

With a family package, kids in larger families will have access to activities better suited to their interests without having to worry about the cost of accumulating classes. The family package accounts for all siblings in the same household 17 and younger. For one monthly rate, the Homeschool Pass includes unlimited access to all music classes, events and enrichment programs offered at Tilghman’s Academy.

“By having this family subscription — if we get enough families to do it — it will support the cost of the program but also allow all these kids to be able to do programs that they probably couldn’t afford otherwise,” Tilghman said.

Along with the expanded programming, the music school will add 1,700 square feet of classroom space at its location. The additional room will be used to host “all kinds of music classes and enrichment activities for homeschool students and after-school activities,” she said.

The space allows Tilghman’s Academy of Music to expand into contiguous space without much needed to get it ready for use.

Leading up to the launch, Tilghman is hoping to increase registration as much as possible to allow for hiring staff needed to teach the classes.

“The biggest thing is to get the word out there because the more families that sign up, the more we can offer,” she said.