Music Together® classes in Hillcrest
ABC Academy of Music offers Music Together® classes in Hillcrest, Toronto, taught from our St. Clair West / Wychwood studio at 12 Conway Ave, Toronto M6E 1H2, near Corso Italia and west of Dufferin. We have been an authorized Music Together center since 2003, making us one of Toronto’s longest-running locations for this program. Classes run in 10-week seasons for children from birth through age five, always with a caregiver present. Seasonal class fees are listed on our tuition page. When children are ready to move into private instrument study, lessons are $55.38 for 30 minutes or $64.81 for 45 minutes; a trial lesson is $20. Our Music Together teachers hold university music degrees or equivalent conservatory credentials, and the same teachers who guide the early years are available to continue with your child through private lessons. Rating: 4.8★ from 150 students on Google.
What happens in a Music Together class
A typical 45-minute session follows a consistent arc: a hello song that names each child, rhythm instruments passed around the circle, movement activities where caregivers sway or lift with their child, quieter lullaby stretches, and a goodbye song. That repetition is the curriculum. Toddlers build musical intuition by hearing the same songs eight to ten times across a 10-week season. By week four or five, most children begin to anticipate the next phrase before it arrives, and by week eight many fill in the melodic gap themselves.
Caregivers attend every class as active participants. An engaged caregiver who sings along and makes eye contact during the lullaby is fuel to the fire of a child’s musical attention; a caregiver who sits back and checks a phone is water on that fire. Singing quality does not matter. Presence does.
Getting here from Hillcrest
Hillcrest sits just east of Wychwood, its southern edge brushing Christie Pits. The studio at 12 Conway Ave is about a 10-minute drive northwest: Christie north to Dupont, west to Ossington, north to St. Clair W, then a short block west to Conway. By TTC, the 506 St. Clair streetcar stops near Wychwood Ave, a two-minute walk from the studio. Families from the Christie Pits end can take the 306 Ossington bus north to St. Clair. Door to door from Hillcrest Park is around 12 to 15 minutes, including stroller time.
Street parking is available on Conway Ave; Saturday mornings fill quickly, so Wychwood Ave and Helena Ave are good backup options a block away. The studio entrance is stroller-accessible. Wychwood Barns is one block north, and the farmers market there runs year-round on Saturday mornings. Dufferin Grove Park is a short drive south on Dufferin.
What children gain at each stage
A six-month-old absorbs pitch and rhythm through passive listening and the physical sensation of being rocked or bounced to a beat. By age two or three, children begin to vocalize, echo phrases, and match claps to beats. A five-year-old in a mixed-age class often takes on an older-sibling role, modeling for younger children and beginning to internalize concepts like tempo and dynamics.
After Music Together, the next step for children aged four to seven is Rhythm Kids, available at select locations, which bridges group music play with foundational listening skills. From age five onward, children are ready for private lessons in piano, guitar, singing, or other instruments at our Conway Ave studio. Children who build rhythmic and tonal foundations in Music Together tend to adapt to private lessons more quickly.
Frequently asked questions about Music Together near Hillcrest
