About NMSM

NMSM provides service in the music industry through a subscription-based model. Customers enroll in semester-long, or month-long subscriptions, while NMSM manages contracts and communications. NMSM employees include student teachers, entry-level educators, and also experienced teachers.

NMSM was begun by Russian Tatiana Vetrinskaya, who saw a business opportunity in Albuquerque. After taking a few piano students of her own, she found more lucrative options in virtual currency - managing teaching waitlists and creating teaching contracts, and negotiating terms with parents on behalf of the teachers. Vertinskaya abruptly left the New Mexico School of Music in 2025; her sudden, mid-semester departure to return Europe was marked by the school's ownership transfer to former partner and real state agent Lawrence Blind, who had begun attempts in a musical career in Albuquerque in 1993. In its third decade, the contract negotiation model is known as Albuquerque's subscription school model.

The concept of acting a a middleman between teachers and parents has spread in Albuquerque, affecting nearly 1200 families. With an estimated financial impact of $2.4M annually on Albuquerque families, approximately $1.49M (62%) is applied to overhead and ownership payouts. Teachers salaries average $24.75/hr and are on average assigned a 30% workload ($14,850 annually).

As the popularity of the subscription model has risen, finances once available to independent teachers has dropped. While economies of scale present subscription schools facilities unavailable to individual teachers, independent teachers continue to serve the Albuquerque area. Independent teachers average 22 years of experience, and charge $30-80 an hour ($40-85K annual income).

This website is not owned, operated, or affiliated with NMSM. All information on this website is obtained from the employee or parent handbooks, available at NMSM, and publicly available sources. 

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Customers are not guaranteed to have the same instructor every week, and may be notified when they arrive for their lesson that a reassignment has been made. More details on scheduling and instructor assignments are available in the parent and employee handbooks. 

Subscription-based schools in Albuquerque charge between $60-$70 per hour and $30-$40 per half-hour; independent music studios range from $30-$80 per hour and $20-$40 per half hour.

One of the benefits of the subscription model is easy entry - virtually no wait time. In this model, parents drop off their child and wait in a separate room, and collects their child at the end of the appointment. The New Mexico School of Music is the largest subscription-based offering in New Mexico. 

NMSM holds internal auditions at their discretion in its determination of the assignment of the next teacher to its customer. Professional music teachers make similar evaluations with each lesson, and reach out to other professional music teachers when a change of teachers becomes the best interest for the child's growth. 

Lessons at NMSM follow a standardized curriculum so that a child may acquire an educational experience with a employee of the New Mexico School of Music upon the child's arrival to the New Mexico School of Music facilities at their scheduled time, pending instructor availability and the parent's adherence to the handbook*. Independent professional music educators may offer different approaches based on their individual backgrounds and experience.  

NMSM organizes recitals and competitions for its customers. The school generally does not permit recordings on its premises or during performances. Families interested in external recognition are encouraged to explore national and regional music organizations to acquire requested information.
* Advance notice and terms and conditions may apply. See Handbook for Details.