Berry College’s Kindermusik program marks its 30th anniversary this year with a musical celebration at Ford Dining Hall Sept. 14.

Registration for the 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.. celebration is at www.berry.edu/kindermusik. Visit the Berry College Kindermusik Facebook page for more information. Kindermusik provides music-based educational opportunities for children that range from birth to seven years old. The program implements music making as a way to encourage brain development during a child’s first few years of learning.

The Kindermusik program at Berry was first launched in 1989 by Kindermusik Director Kathryn Nobles. Nobles currently administers the children’s program to over 150 families in the Rome area.

“We feel Kindermusik is the front door to Berry College with many families coming on campus for the very first time as babies, then enrolling at the Child Development Center, Berry College Elementary and Middle School and eventually the college,” Nobles said.

What started as a pilot program with nine students from the Berry College Child Development Center has blossomed into multiple classes serving more than 200 children annually at four locations in Rome. Distinguished both by its size and quality of instruction, Berry ranks among the top 25 Kindermusik programs worldwide. In addition, teacher Wendy Grace Williams recently received Kindermusik’s “Outreach” award for her work with students at the South Rome Early Learning Center. And teacher Kay Bratton has been teaching with the program since 2001.

“Music is such a great avenue for teaching,” Nobles said. “It’s universal. You can make music anywhere you go, and there’s not an age limit to it.”

Nobles, who also serves as an adjunct piano instructor for Berry students, has kept up with many of her Kindermusik graduates, proudly noting that some have gone on to careers in music, while others have become organic farmers, doctors or lawyers. Quite a few have returned as parents of children within the program, and some have attended college at Berry.