About

Quadratum is a school for ages 8 and above that aims to produce intelligent, self-reliant young people through rigorous musical doings. The core music practices include traditional Ghanaian Drumming and Singing, South Indian Solkattu, sung musics written prior to the 17th century, musics from the late 20th and early 21st centuries, newly composed sung musics, and games intended to test deduction and cognition as pertains to sound and music relationships. Our members strive towards balance and strength in their physical and psychical capacities. To recommend a young person who enjoys rigorous doings, or for other inquiries, write directors@quadratum.online.

Our directors, Brian Parks and Catherine Moulton, bring decades of pedagogical thoroughness which imbue every conversant, instructive, and ludic moment. Whether demystifying musical grammars and syntax (preposterously referred to as “Music Theory” for some unjustifiable reason); collaborating with students on developing questions and answers concerning musics' ancient and modern purposes; showing a novice how to hold and play the gankogui bell; or helping a student ski down a mountain for the first time, Brian and Catherine never take the lesson or the adventure for granted. True comprehension may reveal itself at any time. The same is true though for total ambiguity, an equally instructive state of thought. The sheer joy of figuring things out undergirds their teaching; the Quadratum students in turn live out that joy in all their various doings. Read more about Brian and Catherine below. 

Rehearsal, Service, and Expedition Schedule 

  • Weekly Rehearsal is Wednesdays from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Students may arrive as early as 3:00 p.m. to do homework, study together, play/garden in the yard, practice music with or without staff/peer assistance, cook dinner together, or simply relax.

  • Service opportunities are made available roughly once a month. We currently are scheduled to volunteer with the Men’s and Women’s Extensions (making and serving dinners on site); LifeLine, a no-kill animal shelter in Atlanta; and Murphy-Harpst Children’s Home, where we assist with the physical plant as well as work directly with residents

  • Choral Residency at Exeter Cathedral in Devon, England. This unique, once-a-lifetime tour will feature 11 nights in the United Kingdom, with 7 days of comprehensive musical duties at the cathedral including nightly Evensong and a Sunday sung Eucharist, where we will make the English premiere of the Dubois Requiem Mass, Ebrecht edition. The dates are July 10th-July 22nd, 2026. 

  • Summer Workshop is for students who wish to participate in the English Expedition to Exeter Cathedral but cannot attend the weekly rehearsal. The all-day camp will take place July 6th-9th, 2026, concluding with a musical offering on the final night. The campers will depart along with their fellow choir members for Exeter the next evening, July 10th. 

  • To audition with an eye on eventual enrollment, click here.

SAT Tutoring

Brian Parks has many years of SAT preparatory teaching experience, teaching classes and one-on-one tutoring through Kaplan Test Prep in Boston and Atlanta. Private or small group sessions are available through separate scheduling.

Tuition

The Year’s Classes: $1800

Exeter Cathedral Choral Residency: $4200

Bundled tuition (classes and residency): $5000

Summer Workshop (July 6th-9th, 2026): $800

Summer Workshop and Exeter Residency: $5000

Write us at directors@quadratum.online to find out more.

Brian Parks is a Fellow of the American Guild of Organists and currently believed to be the only person alive who can play the Bach masterwork organ fugues (BWVs 537, 542, 543, 544, 552, 582, &c.) as well as the master drum parts for enshrined Ghanaian drum-dances gahu, agbekor (slow and fast), sikyi, and kundum (unverified claim). Favorite venues where he has presented harpsichord, organ, and composition concerts include: Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, the Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Künste, Diakonie Düsseldorf, Dreischeibenhaus, the Basilica of the Apostles (Köln), Sankt Peter Kunstation (Köln), the American Church in Paris, Les Instants Chavirés, Exeter Cathedral, the wulf. (Los Angeles), First Scots Presbyterian Church (Charleston), The Church in the Wilderness (Killingworth) and Higganum Congregational Church. He has given lectures on algorithmic composition, experimental sacred musicking, and the role of the partner in early lactation among other topics at IRCAM, the national convention of the American Guild of Organists, Oxford University (Ripon College Cuddesdon), the Conservatoire de Lille, Bowdoin College, Kennesaw State University, and the La Leche League Conference of Connecticut. He is most fortunate to have taken lessons with compassionate, brilliant, and humble pedagogues. Among others, he studied composition with Tom Johnson, Ron Kuivila, Anthony Braxton, and Alvin Lucier; organ with Ronald Ebrecht; Ghanaian drumming with Abraham Adzenyah and John Dankwa; golf with Angus Guberman; healthy conflict with Forrest Cate; plant identification and archery with Mark Warren; “classical” piano with Leah Brammer; and “jazz” piano with Ted Howe. If you’d like to hear him do music, he plays Robert Freeholder as well as a surfeit of pop musics at weekly gigs as part of The Freeholders (no relation), and he is the organist at The Church at St. John in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. He is husband to Janet Simone Parks, a nurse-midwife (APRN) and father to Orion (16), Alban (13), and Zelig (2). He teaches private piano, harpsichord, and composition lessons through his private studio.

Catherine Moulton is a pedagogue and choralist working in Marietta. Her teaching strives to embody music theoretic principles through vocal technique, stagecraft, confident self-presentation, and the building of other critical life skills. Currently she runs an active private lesson studio. In 2019, she co-founded Quadratum (with Brian Parks), an auditioned ensemble that strives to develop intelligent, self-reliant young people through rigorous musical training, direct-impact service work, and demanding expeditions. A graduate of CCCEPA, she holds a Bachelor's degree from Indiana University with additional studies taking place at Manhattan School of Music and Jacobs School of Music. During her time as Head of Education at the historic Strand Theater in the Marietta (GA) Square, she directed a vast array of shows, camps, and educational opportunities. She plays Ursula Freeholder in the lounge act The Freeholders (no relation) in The Strand's Lumière Lounge and other accommodating venues. Her pedagogical aspiration is ultimately predicated on the proven idea that children are far more capable than society allows or encourages them to be, and that limiting musical study to performance unethically diminishes both students and musics alike. Her school model needs backers; contact her if financing it or providing infrastructural resources interests you.