INTRODUCTION
Collegiate’s music program offers both music ensembles and private music lessons to Collegiate students Grades K-12 for the upcoming school year.
A student moves her bow over the strings of her violin and the world begins to take on a new texture. The drama of the piece this student has been working on — a sonata by the composer George Frideric Handel — builds with helter-skelter intensity. It’s the kind of piece this student loves: pulsing with bursts of energy that move toward a spacious triumph. In each note she plays she can imagine a narrative, a story of a great clash, and into this imagination she infuses her own feeling and style, elevating the piece and making it uniquely hers.
This total emotional immersion strikes the student as the difference between playing notes and playing music. But with the help of her private music instructor Melissa Jones, a classically trained violinist and Collegiate’s Middle and Upper School Orchestra Director, the student is able to contemplate the thematic and structural composition of the piece with a rigorous intensity that heightens her playing.
This, after all, is what Collegiate School’s Private Music Program is all about: Giving students the space to work diligently one-on-one with a skilled musical instructor. The personalized instruction — and the rapport that grows over years of lessons — allows students to learn at a pace they are comfortable with. “It’s my particular hope that students feel confident about what they’re doing with their instrument,” Jones says. “With the help of private lessons, students learn the necessary technique to play well, they learn lots of repertoire, and, maybe most importantly, they discover their own artistic expression. And because these lessons are one-on-one, students get to really have a unique musical education that works for them.”
Taking music lessons at Collegiate offers unparalleled advantages. With years of practice with the same instructor, students develop a sustained connection both to their instrument and their teacher. “The beauty of having just one teacher in a private lesson is you really make that connection — not only from teacher to student but from person to person,” one piano student says. “Your growth is more cultivated, more specific and tailored to your style of playing and your style of learning. My instructor really knows the way that I learn music and the way that I interpret it. And from there, she can see my strengths and weaknesses, the things that I need to work on, which makes the way I learn music more efficient and my trajectory as a performer clearer.”
OUR INSTRUCTORS
Piano - Connie Tuttle
Piano - Markus J. Compton
Piano - Ivy Haga
Piano - Deborah Huish
Piano - Mara Smith
Violin, Viola - Melissa Jones
Violin, Viola - Helen Coulson
Violin - Keadron Schwoebel
Violin, Viola - Thomas Stevens
Cello - Ryan Lannan
Classical Guitar - David Robinson
Classical Guitar - Derek Tuttle
Clarinet, Flute - Karl von Klein
Saxophone - JC Kuhl
Trumpet - George Tuckweiler
ENSEMBLES
Music Ensembles and Classes String students who have had at least one year of private or group study will be allowed to participate in the String Ensembles. Middle School students may participate in a maximum of two Arts ensembles. Middle School Guitar students will be placed in beginning, intermediate or advanced classes.
There is no charge to participate in any of the classes or ensemble programs except for the rental or purchase of the instrument.
In order to begin a band instrument, students must be at least in the 4th Grade. Students will be scheduled automatically for one group lesson in “like” instruments (woodwinds, brass or percussion) and two full 4th Grade Band meetings each week. We will have an orientation meeting for students and families new to the Instrumental Music Program early in the fall. The purpose of this meeting is to provide you with lesson and instrument information regarding rental, sizing, care of instruments, and music and supplies to be purchased.
2nd Grade String Ensemble
3rd Grade Beginning Strings
4th Grade Beginning Strings
3rd/4th Grade String Ensemble
4th Grade Band
5th/6th Grade Band
7th/8th Grade Band
5th/6th Grade String Ensemble
7th/8th Grade String Ensemble
5th/6th Grade Chorus
7th/8th Grade Chorus
Middle School Guitar Ensembles: Beginning/Intermediate/Advanced
Upper School Orchestra, Jazz Band, Guitar or Chorus
PRIVATE LESSONS
In addition to our ensemble programs, private lessons are offered in string and band instruments, piano, guitar, and voice. In order to maximize each student’s potential, we strongly encourage regularly scheduled private lessons. It is mandatory that students taking private lessons have an instrument for regular practice during the week. The fee for lessons can be paid at the beginning of the year or in seven installments during the school year. A full year’s commitment is required and only full-year contracts will be accepted.
SCHEDULING
Lesson times will take place as they coordinate with each division’s schedule. If you have any questions, please email the teacher who corresponds to your child’s area of interest. Melissa Jones, Connie Tuttle Strings, Winds & Percussion Piano Studies Coordinator melissa_jones@collegiate-va.org ctuttle@collegiate-va.org
FEES
Our offerings are for 28, 30-minute lessons at a cost of $1,166 and 28, 40-minute lessons at $1,552.
Registrations will be processed in the order received and should be completed by June 28, 2024. Private lesson registrations received after this date will be accepted but put on a wait-list.
