A Music Exec Who Discovered Creed Is Opening a School in Winter Garden: Inside Musicology
Jeff Hanson spent decades finding and managing rock acts that sold tens of millions of records. This September the Winter Garden resident opens Musicology, a contemporary music school on Stoneybrook West Parkway built to give the next generation the head start he never had.
Musicology, a contemporary music school, opens at 15504 Stoneybrook West Parkway in Winter Garden, with a grand opening set for Sept. 1.
Image: Liz Ramos / West Orange Times & Observer
What to Know
The Musicology project in brief
A full-service contemporary music school landing in a Stoneybrook West retail bay, led by a veteran who has spent his career around platinum records.
A contemporary music school on Stoneybrook West. Musicology opens at 15504 Stoneybrook West Parkway, Suite 130, in Winter Garden, with a grand opening Sept. 1 and a public open house Aug. 28 to 30.
Serious industry pedigree. Founder Jeff Hanson discovered Creed and managed Paramore, Sevendust and Alter Bridge. A Matchbox 20 founder and a vocal coach for NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys are on the team.
Lessons for every age. Instruction spans vocals, guitar, piano, drums, DJing, woodwinds, brass, songwriting and production, from young beginners to retirees chasing a stage.
Winter Garden is getting a music school with a backstory most conservatories cannot match. Jeff Hanson, a Winter Garden resident who spent decades finding and developing rock acts, is opening Musicology, a contemporary music school on Stoneybrook West Parkway, and he is bringing a deep bench of industry names with him.
The pitch is simple: give kids and adults across west Orange County a place to learn an instrument, find a creative community and be taught with current, professional methods. For Hanson it is also personal, the result of a career pivot that followed a serious health scare.
What Musicology is bringing to Stoneybrook West
Musicology sets up at 15504 Stoneybrook West Parkway, Suite 130, in a Winter Garden retail center off the Stoneybrook West corridor. Lessons cover vocals, guitar, piano, drums, DJing, woodwinds, brass, songwriting and production, and the school is built for every age, from first-time young students to a group of retirees who simply want a place to practice and, eventually, play Orlando venues.
The public gets an early look before the doors officially open. An open house runs 2 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, through Sunday, Aug. 30, with the grand opening following on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
Musicology sits at 15504 Stoneybrook West Parkway, Suite 130, in Winter Garden, in west Orange County near State Road 429 and the Florida Turnpike.
The résumé behind the school
Hanson built his career finding talent. In the late 1990s he discovered Creed while the band was playing covers at Floyd’s Music Store, the Tallahassee venue he owned, then moved to the Orlando area and expanded into artist development and management. Over the years he handled Paramore, Sevendust, Alter Bridge, Tantric and Candlebox, and his clients have sold roughly 60 million records combined.
He later founded the Orlando-based label Silent Majority Group and is in line for his third RIAA Diamond Award, the certification reserved for releases that reach 10 million units sold or streamed in the United States. That catalog of gold and platinum plaques, the kind lining the walls behind him, is what he now wants to turn into a teaching resource.
The team he recruited
Hanson did not build Musicology alone. Jay Stanley, a founding member of Matchbox 20, is a part owner and will teach guitar. Mark Goff, a vocal coach and choreographer who has worked with the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, joins as a key instructor. The school plans to lean on established teaching systems, drawing on guitarist Troy Stetina’s method and drummer Carmine Appice’s approach.
The guest list is a draw on its own. Hanson says NSYNC’s Chris Kirkpatrick, Evanescence’s Will Hunt, Fuel’s Kevin Miller and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Peter Keys have all committed to visit for talks and meet-and-greets, and the school is planning field trips, a Parents Night Out program and movie nights to build a community around the lessons.
Musicology by the numbers
The figures matter because this is not a typical strip-mall studio: it is a working music professional turning a career catalog into a community classroom.
A comeback story
The school grew out of a hard chapter. In 2016 Hanson was diagnosed with Stage 4 head and neck cancer and given roughly a 30% chance of survival. He credits his recovery to treatment and to a nationwide prayer chain started by the more than 1,000 children he had coached in youth sports around Southwest Orlando.
The diagnosis pushed him to retire from touring and management and rethink what came next. Inspired in part by Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, who opened a nonprofit music school in Los Angeles years earlier, Hanson landed on Musicology as his way to give back, with hopes of eventually opening additional locations, including in his hometown of Tallahassee.
A light real estate read on the school
For Winter Garden, a marquee small business choosing a Stoneybrook West retail bay is a quiet vote of confidence in west Orange County’s rooftops. Family-oriented enrichment tenants tend to follow household growth, and this stretch near State Road 429 and the Florida Turnpike has plenty of it.
For nearby homeowners in the 34787, an amenity like this adds to the everyday convenience that shapes how a neighborhood feels, and how it shows when it is time to sell. Walkable lessons, weekend programming and a local gathering spot are the kind of soft factors buyers notice even when they never appear on a listing sheet.
The Takeaway
Musicology is a small-footprint tenant with an outsized story: a music-industry veteran turning a wall of platinum records into a classroom for west Orange County. The open house on Aug. 28 and the Sept. 1 opening give the area a new creative anchor on Stoneybrook West Parkway.
Watch what it does for the plaza and the surrounding community. If the model works and the promised guest artists show up, Winter Garden may have landed one of the more distinctive local additions of the year.
FAQ
What is Musicology?
Musicology is a contemporary music school opening in Winter Garden that offers lessons in vocals, guitar, piano, drums, DJing, woodwinds, brass, songwriting and production for students of all ages.
Where is it located?
At 15504 Stoneybrook West Parkway, Suite 130, in Winter Garden, in west Orange County near State Road 429 and the Florida Turnpike.
When does it open?
A public open house runs Friday, Aug. 28, through Sunday, Aug. 30, from 2 to 9 p.m., and the grand opening is Tuesday, Sept. 1.
Who is behind it?
Founder Jeff Hanson, a music-industry veteran who discovered Creed and managed Paramore, Sevendust and Alter Bridge, along with co-owner Jay Stanley of Matchbox 20 and instructor Mark Goff, a vocal coach for NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys.
Who can take lessons?
Anyone. Musicology is built for every age, from young beginners to retirees who want a place to practice and perform.
External Links & Related Reading
For readers who want to review the reporting and the background behind Musicology, these are the key references.
Watching Winter Garden’s next chapter?
Local additions like Musicology say a lot about where an area’s families and buyers are heading. When a move is on your radar, local context matters.