Welcome to the Winter 2019 Orchestra Academy!

Thank you so much for enrolling in the Orchestra Academy for the Winter 2019 semester.  I am really excited about this semester–we will now have two orchestras, and we have a lot of new students!

Previous students, if you are wanting to play in the Intermediate Orchestra but have not yet sent me an audition video, please just reach out to let me know.  Rehearsals don’t start for a couple of weeks, so we have some wiggle room.  Also, if you have lost your String Explorer book let me know so that I can make sure I buy a book for you!

New students: Welcome!  Your job this week is to get an instrument if you haven’t already.  You can find a lot of information about this on our website at https://orchestraacademy.co/about/.  A good rule of thumb is to never buy an instrument somewhere that doesn’t specialize in musical instruments.  For example, I buy almost everything on Amazon these days, but the instruments offered on Amazon are truly terrible.  I don’t expect the kids to be playing on professional level instruments, but if they get a cheaply made instrument they will likely get discouraged and quit.  There are plenty of reasonable options at local music stores or at reputable sites such as sharmusic.com.  Even if you don’t end up buying from a local music store, I encourage you to go to one so that your student can be measured–all of the string instruments come in different sizes, and you need to know which one your child will fit.  Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions about instruments or how to get one.

One more thing you should know if that violins and violas need a shoulder rest, and cellos and basses need a rock stop.  These things can also be found at the music store.

Our brand new beginners will have their first rehearsal on Monday, January 14th from 9:00 am – 11:00 am.  It will be a longer rehearsal than usual because we need to get everyone set up on their instruments, learn the string names, learn how to hold the instruments, etc.  We will likely also have a lot of instrument problems to work through with all of these brand new instruments!  The next rehearsal will be on Monday, January 28th from 9:00 am – 10:00 am and that will be the time for rehearsals from that day forward.

Intermediate Orchestra–our first rehearsal will be Monday, January 28th from 10:00 am – 11:00 am.  However, I plan to send out a few challenges before then to give you something to work on!

Tuition for the semester is $99 per student.  This is due on the day of the first official rehearsal, January 28th.  It can be paid with cash, check (made out to Lisa Badal), or you can send it via PayPal to lisa@orchestraacademy.co.  I will be buying the students music and we already have chairs and stands, so you really just need to worry about an instrument!

Let me know if you have any questions.  Thanks everyone–like I said, I am really excited!

Lisa Badal