Each morning at The Kendall School, passing cars and pedestrians can hear the sounds of joyful piano and a chorus of young voices pouring from the small schoolhouse on Belmont Street.
Inside, preschoolers and kindergarteners gather around a piano, singing, clapping, and dancing along to various nursery rhymes. For nearly an hour every morning, the students start their day with music, led by Marina Margarian.
Margarian has been teaching at the school for more than 30 years—an endeavor she says has brought undiluted joy into her life each day.
“Every morning, their hearts, their love, their singing, just makes my day, too,” Margarian said.
Margarian grew up in Yerevan, Armenia, and moved to the United States in 1991. Soon after, she accepted a job teaching music at Kendall.
Margarian’s passion for music dates back to her own preschool years. While playing the xylophone in class, her teacher noticed how easily Margarian found the notes after hearing them. She fostered Margarian’s love for music and encouraged Margarian’s parents to enroll her in a music school when she was old enough.
Margarian would go on to learn to play the piano at just 3 years old, and now holds a doctorate in music theory and education from the Komitas State Conservatory in Armenia. Before moving to the United States, she spent six years as a university lecturer. Outside of Kendall, she runs her own music studio and composes music.
While Margarian has performed around the Northeast, often for charity fundraisers for organizations benefiting the rebuilding and support of the Armenian people after the genocide in 1915, teaching has always been a passion.
“I feel [like the] Kendall School is my family,” Margarian said.
Throughout the year, Margarian works with students to learn new songs and music, often adapting the music to match what they’re learning in the classroom. She teaches them how to count in English, Spanish, and Armenian through song. Margarian herself began learning English using music — the Beatles, to be precise.
Margarian also works with the teachers at Kendall to write music. Sometimes, a teacher will bring an idea or even a poem they think the children would like, and Margarian sets to work putting it to music. The school’s “Music Book” is full of beloved nursery rhymes and original songs written by hand by Margarian.
Kendall Co-Director Connaught Colbert said the music provides a social element for the children. They dance and sing with kids from other classes, and give them a different space to express themselves.
“It’s very good for children who tend to be maybe more shy; you see them singing, or you see them raising their hand, and it’s another area for them to shine,” Colbert said.
The morning music sessions go for nearly an hour every morning. Parents have told Kendall teachers and administrators that their children are constantly singing Margarian’s songs, and some even become avid musicians themselves, according to Colbert.
“Having [music] in their lives and in their ear every day is what we really want for them,” Colbert said.
This year, Kendall is celebrating its 95th anniversary. Margarian is working on composing the school’s first official anthem for the students to perform at the end of the year. For her, the anniversary is a reminder of the impact she’s had since the start of her teaching career.
“I’m lucky to be here,” she said. “I mean, 31 years, it’s a whole life.”
