Brenham Music Academy was founded in June 1994 at our current location. Cheryl began teaching professionally in 1986 at the Holcombe-Lindquist Piano Store in Houston. (Houston old-timers will remember the distinctive "aerial grand piano" pylon sign on the Southwest Freeway across from The Summit (now Lakewood Church).) While at Holcombe-Lindquist, she wrote a six-week adult curriculum for beginning adults ("The ABC Course"). She then started a mobile piano lesson service in Southwest Houston and taught and performed in the Houston area until 1996.

Cheryl's family relocated to the Brenham area in 1999, and Cheryl opened Cheryl's School of Music in 2001, originally at the old St Jude's convent on Park Street (now the home of Teen Challenge (formerly known as Freedom Hill)). At that time Cheryl, her husband Andrew, and Andrew's son John were all teaching piano, guitar, or drums, and John's wife Cheryl (yes, two Cheryl Amelangs...) was handling the administration.

In 2004, the school moved to its current location, Joyce and Cheryl joined forces, and the school was renamed Brenham Music Academy and at the time, the street name was Academy St.! It has been growing ever since, and presently has a staff of seven teachers.

Over the years, BMA has also been an incubator for fellow musicians and teachers to find their calling and begin their own businesses and careers. John Amelang launched a recording studio in Brenham--Siren Sound Productions--and is currently in a band and still producing music and local recordings. Marc Nesbitt performs with The Blue Grooves and continues to teach. Brad Shearhart relocated to San Antonio and opened his own music school. Isaac Littlejohn got a performance gig with Disney. Ashley Appel (now Ashley Pontiff) has a degree from Baylor and is working on her masters in music theory. She continues to teach and perform. Paul Amelang formed the Kites Band, has shows in Texas, and has been writing and recording with Netflix/ HBO/CNN/ Amazon film composer/producer Khari Mateen. Paul will soon become the manager of Brenham Music Academy and has been teaching for BMA since 2010, including spear heading the family worship band class. Paul has recorded a family worship band in the making! Kurt Amelang taught many talented musicians from 2013- 2019. Kurt Amelang and Hannah Amelang have formed a Christian worship band, Signs and Wonders, and their first album was released in May 2024. Look them up on Spotify or iTunes! Hannah has taught at BMA, many young aspiring singer songwriters and musicians from 2012-2024! They are also a part of the Collective Community and have co-written songs with a team of musicians and released a new album in July 2024.  Neil Amelang, teaches many students at our school and began teaching in 1997. Neil also teachers the preschool music classes at First Methodist Day School. He has performed with Kites Band since he was 12 years old, writes incredible songs and plays as an interim musician in community worship services.  Christie Pollard received her Bachelor of Arts in piano performance at Baylor College in Waco and will graduate in 2025 with her Master's. She is currently an intern teacher at Baylor. All of these younger musicians were formerly teachers with BMA, and we are pleased and proud to see them continuing their careers in music.

We have had so many wonderful teachers through the years and we are so grateful for every one! We always miss our teachers when they leave!

Our focal points through the years have been worship and piano ensemble. Every year we present over 50 students performing on multiple keyboards in a giant piano concert event in April. A few of these students also perform at the Texas Music Teachers Association on a stage with 15 grand pianos. Our school hosts rehearsals for no charge which means all the years, students have been provided a wonderful collaboration experience at hardly any cost. We believe that music should be social and fun! We are grateful to God for this opportunity to serve our community and help students to learn to connect with other musicians with their music abilities. 

This year we are transitioning into new management by Paul and Renee Amelang. Cheryl will be focused more on her ministry, Faithmusic worship while expanding piano and worship productions, producing albums, and healing music therapy. She is hoping to begin to share more by doing live sessions and some concerts and sessions in person at Brenham Music Academy.

Thank you for your interest in BMA, and thank you, Brenham, for 20 awesome years! It just keeps getting better!