Babies, toddlers and preschoolers in Evanston will have a new music education option when the Music Institute of Chicago begins offering RCM Smart Start at its Chicago Avenue campus in September 2026.
The program, developed by the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, uses more than 1,000 activities involving movement, instruments, play and global music to build early literacy and school-readiness skills in children from birth through age 5. Classes will be held at the institute's Evanston location at 1490 Chicago Ave., along with its Lake Forest and Winnetka campuses.
The Music Institute will be the only provider of RCM Smart Start in the Chicago region, Patch reported Tuesday, Aug. 25.
Research behind the program
The curriculum targets four cognitive skills: attention, memory, perception and cognitive flexibility. It grew out of research at the Royal Conservatory's Neuroscience Research Centre.
A four-year longitudinal study by Dr. Sean Hutchins of the Royal Conservatory tracked 216 children ages 3 to 7 enrolled in Smart Start. The study was published in the journal Music Perception in 2026. An earlier 2018 study of 90 children ages 3 to 6 found improvements in vocabulary size and letter and number naming that were not attributable to normal aging, according to the Royal Conservatory.
The Music Institute said children in the program showed a 33% reduction in singing error, along with gains in vocabulary and letter and number naming.
Classes and registration
Weekly classes are age-specific, with distinct curriculum for each group. The institute said class sizes will be small and spots are likely to fill quickly.
Faculty teaching the program hold certification from the Royal Conservatory. The institute said 84% of its faculty hold advanced degrees and most have at least 10 years of tenure at the school.
Shalisa Kline Ugaz, president and CEO of the Music Institute of Chicago, said the program helps families build foundational cognitive skills that support school readiness.
Registration details are available on the Music Institute's website. The Evanston campus is home to Nichols Concert Hall at 1490 Chicago Ave.
