The Bridge is exactly what its name implies. This community-oriented venue offers beginners a launching pad to exhibit their musical talents to a live audience, some for the first time.
Offering open mic and open jam nights, The Bridge shows Columbia how much music really contributes to the city. Defying the limits of any certain genre, The Bridge welcomes artists from an array of backgrounds.
From country to jazz to classical, The Bridge is all ears as long as you’re not obnoxious or, as Wes Wingate, proprietor of the venue and its neighbor, the Columbia Academy of Music, says, “yelling like Cookie Monster.”
Though The Bridge has been contacted by several national touring acts, Wingate says the venue would rather give the stage to unknown local artists and students of Columbia Academy of Music to give them a shot at fame, even if it is for a short period of time.
This is what separates The Bridge from many similar venues of the community: their appreciation for all music. The Bridge doesn’t limit the space to big shots — its managers would much rather offer their time to letting people of the Columbia community see how much talent such a small college town truly has.
“Prior to opening these businesses, (Wingate) had been teaching out of his house, sharing his love for music with anyone who was interested in learning,” says Kara Miller, media relations director and general manager of both businesses.
Feeling as though he could do more, Wingate then set out to find a venue to expand his passion to the people of the community. In early 2011, he found what he said to be the “perfect place, at the perfect time”: a downtown building, perfect for both teaching and displaying the art of music. And so The Bridge and the Columbia Academy of Music came to be.
Opening with 30 students in March 2011, the Columbia Academy of Music has since grown to more than 170 students, learning to play or advancing their skills of just about any instrument you can think of. The academy offers classes to people of all ages.
“We’ll teach anyone from age 4 to 64,” academy instructor Bobby Schembre says.
The staff, ranging from graduate students to MU professors, works to create a diverse atmosphere focused on bringing together people of all lifestyles for the love of music, Schembre says.
Though the two businesses have grown greatly from their starting point, they’re always looking for ways to improve. Wingate says he is looking to expand his base and add another 200 students to Columbia Academy of Music within the next year as well as gain more recognition and support from people of the area.
“It all started with a vision,” Wingate says, “We’re really just trying to offer opportunity.”
