Everett music school takes a unique approach

Published 1:30 am Thursday, December 4, 2025

EVERETT — If you’re walking around downtown Everett on a Monday evening, you might be surprised to hear loud music emanating from the second floor of a century-old building along Wetmore Avenue.

What might surprise you more is that the people performing those songs aren’t grizzled professionals readying for their next gig — they’re talented teenage students at a music school.

That school is called The Music Circle, which hosts classes for people 8 and older, including adults. While some other music lessons focus on one-on-one instruction, students at this school play together in groups and perform live in front of audiences, a method of learning that founder Jonathan Olson feels is essential.

“Imagine being on a sports team and never playing a game,” Olson said. “That’s what I see most music education as.”

Originally from the Midwest, Olson grew up playing music from a young age. By the time he was 8 years old, he had picked up his first guitar. At 11, he was in his first band, an ’80s cover group. (He doesn’t remember the name.) He spent time working as a musician and music producer before opening the school — then known as The Guitar Circle — in 2017, shortly after he moved to Everett.

Through group lessons rather than one-on-one sessions, Olson hopes to make music education more rewarding and engaging, he said in an interview Tuesday.

“Other places seem less approachable because they just give you a piece of paper, but you play live with people here,” said Alvin Smith, 14, a student at The Music Circle. “… You learn skills that will probably help you in the future if you want to be a musician, because you get to jam with other people, you can learn how people play and adapt to how people play.”

To add challenge to those in the school’s classes, Olson works with local music venues to put on regular performances featuring student performers. The Music Circle’s most recent performance came just before Thanksgiving, where students performed alternative rock classics at APEX Everett in front of a live audience.

“When we’re at a concert, when you’re in the music, you kind of feel what the audience is feeling,” said student Heather Handyside, 13. “You’re just in that moment.”

Teens in the school’s collective program — advanced students who had all been at The Music School for more than a year, some for three or more — are learning over a dozen songs for the school’s next performance in December, from a litany of bands that would fit right in to a trendy mixtape from the 90s: Nirvana, Radiohead, Tool, Green Day, The Foo Fighters and Cake, among others. There’s a couple of Christmas tunes in the set list as well, just for good measure.

On Monday, students at that class rehearsed like they were on stage in front of thousands, with high volume and high energy. Fourteen-year-old guitarists Owen Barton and Miles Nanfito leapt into the air at the end of a performance of “Cherub Rock” by The Smashing Pumpkins. Heather, a singer, pointed to other classmates as she would with audience members during a concert. Alvin, a drummer, even broke a drumstick while playing a rendition of Radiohead’s “Creep.”

All of that energy comes from one another, students said.

“You just feel the vibe,” said student JJ Sobchuk, 14.

For Olson, seeing the growth in his students over time is one of the primary reasons he does what he does. JJ, Olson said, started out nervous when he was a beginner before growing in confidence over his years at the classes.

“Working with him, coaching him, explaining some concepts to him, having him do more shows, he’s become who he is,” Olson said. “He’ll be unstoppable if he wants to.”

The classes are also a way to form community, students at the collective program said. Most had never met one another before starting lessons at the school. Nearly all of them eventually want to make music into a career. Three classmates — Alvin, 15-year-old Finley Pettit and 16-year-old Hayli Mack — have formed their own band, Pule, and hope to record some of their original music soon. Maybe someday, a room full of students will be learning their songs, too.

“It’s really nice to have your own music, it’s your creation,” Alvin said. “Something you can be proud of.”

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.