What Is Ars Musica?
Ars Musica is more than a business. It is a living philosophy of music-making—an ever-growing project dedicated to cultivating beauty, skill, and sacred meaning in everyday musical life. Rooted in the historic role of the Cantor and shaped by the needs of contemporary students, Ars Musica stands at the intersection of tradition, pedagogy, artistry, and inclusion.
Founded by Cantor Parker MacIver Hinnenkamp, Ars Musica began as a single teaching studio—offering piano and organ lessons with a focus on individualized instruction and sacred repertoire. But from its earliest days, it was clear that this studio would be more than transactional. It would be vocational. The name itself, Ars Musica, comes from Latin—“the art of music”—evoking centuries of liturgical craft, humanist beauty, and careful devotion. And that is exactly what this work has become: a craft, a calling, and a framework for restoring integrity and joy to music education and performance.
Today, Ars Musica encompasses a growing constellation of programs and services. These include:
A private music studio committed to accessible, adaptive, and high-level instruction for students of all ages and abilities
A media and production arm creating digital resources, podcasts, video lectures, and sacred music commentary for the wider public
A developing plan for a performing arts space and sacred music archive, designed to preserve and promote the liturgical arts as both a community service and cultural legacy
Ongoing collaborations in disability inclusion, mentorship, and theological reflection—offering a home for learners and leaders who may not find welcome elsewhere
What ties these ventures together is not a single product, but a shared ethos: music as formation. Ars Musica rejects the notion that music must either be recreational or elite. Instead, it insists on something more ancient and more honest: music as discipline, as joy, as belonging, and as worship. Whether through liturgical improvisation, early keyboard study, or an online series on hymnody, every Ars Musica offering aims to elevate both the skill and the soul.
This is also a space for building infrastructure—practical, scalable, and long-lasting. Ars Musica is structured to serve not only the present generation of musicians and students, but the ones that come after. From its inclusive studio policies to its investment in local employment and handcrafted products, the project embodies a model of sacred entrepreneurship: principled, profitable, and community-minded.
As the work continues to grow, Ars Musica remains grounded in its founder’s original vision: a place where artistry, education, and sacred music are held together in trust—for students, for congregations, and for the common good.