Our Story

Arpeggio Music Academy began as a dream in the hearts of Mike and Judy Gorrell. After spending years in public education, as a music teacher and the business world, they decided to follow their dream and build a music academy on the north side of San Antonio. Seven years later, their dream is thriving. Kids, students, and adults are learning an appreciation for music, and gaining the skills to play the instrument of their choice.

Judy holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from The University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Music Degree in Music Education from Texas State University. Judy runs the teaching side of the Academy during the day and helps with clean-up, and other preparations for the next day in the evening. Prior to opening Arpeggio, she worked for Northside ISD as an Elementary Music Teacher for 30 years before retiring in 2008. She has taught private piano and voice lessons for over 35 years. She recently retired as a choir director and organist, and has years of performance experience as a keyboard player and vocalist for several bands.

Mike holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sociology from Texas A&M University. Mike runs the business side of the Academy and wears the hat of office manager, phone operator, and scheduler during the day and janitor/maintenance man at night. He designed our studios and helped with the general and detailed construction of them. Prior to opening Arpeggio, he worked for the State of Texas for 32 years before retiring from Texas Workforce Commission in 2010. Mike is also a certified Audio Engineer.

Mike and Judy have two sons, a daughter-in-law, and three grand dogs. We are very proud of all our children and equally proud of our music school.

In 2019/2020 we experienced several changes in our lives, not the least of which included the opening of a new location on Boerne Stage Road.

As 2022 approaches we will be making further changes. We will be closing our 1604 location in 2022 and opening a larger facility at our Boerne Stage Road location. When the transition takes place our Boerne Stage Road location will be open Monday – Saturday. As a result, we decided to devote all our attention to teaching the best lessons possible and have stopped retail sales and rentals to all but our students.

If you are interested in lessons, we invite you to call to schedule an appointment to come by and meet us and see our facility.