HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! With not doing a newsletter in December, it feels like we haven’t had one sent out since last year! Ok, you can roll your eyes at that one since it’s always everybody’s ‘go-to’ every year. I rolled my eyes typing it…LOL It sounds like everyone had a great Christmas Holiday. It’s always fun for me hearing about the gifts that students have received, being shown what they got from Santa and family, and hearing about all the delicious family dinners (Jude, maybe next year Santa will bring your Bugatti..I’ll put in a good word for you!). It also sounds like some of you had some fun New Years Eve celebrations. I did dinner with my best friend and my parents, and then fell asleep at 11pm…LOL. It’s the first year I haven’t lasted until midnight *sigh*. From the teaching side of things, with the kids being home for the Winter break we were able to get make up lessons completed and caught up, so thanks to everyone for working with me and getting schedules sorted for that! I won’t lie, it was nice to be able to have 3 days off in a row during the week of Christmas. With how busy my teaching schedule has become, it was nice to have those days, but I sure looked forward to being back at work. We have some fun topics in this month’s newsletter to cover, and just a heads up to please make sure to read the section regarding make up lessons moving forward. Here’s what we have…..
- Make Up Lessons Scheduling
- Student Corner
- Upcoming Concert
- Student Of The Month
Make Up Lessons Scheduling
When I launched in the Niagara Region, I wasn’t sure how feasible it was going to be to sustain my business here for various reasons. I certainly was not expecting it to have the growth it has. In just one year, I have almost 30 students now, and still a couple of new ones starting with me in the coming week and inquiries every week regarding lessons. Trying to reschedule lessons due to family obligations, sickness, etc has become more of a challenge, however I’ve made sure we still can get them scheduled. Here’s how I’m going to be doing make up lessons moving forward and hopefully I answer some questions regarding how to do this…
- Saturdays: I have two scheduled students on Saturday mornings now. I’ve left Saturday afternoons open as the ‘preferred’ day for make up lessons. I’m currently not taking on anymore students in my regular time slots so I won’t be filling new student slots on Saturday afternoons after my final lesson that day. Since I’ve set it as a preferred day, I know that doesn’t work for everyone, so more on that below….
- Does The Make Up Lesson Need To Be Scheduled Right Away?: No. Just like it currently is, if we need to schedule a make up lesson for a following month when it is convenient for you and myself, we can still do that.
- I/my child has other obligations on Saturdays so that may not work for us: I will still be scheduling make up lessons during holidays when the kids are home (Christmas break, Spring break etc.), and P.D. days off from school are also great for make up lesson times. As mentioned, I’ve set Saturdays as a preferred day, but it’s not the only option.
- Are you still going to offer double lesson times as make up lessons?: Absolutely. That won’t change. Currently I have the option with some students to extend a 30 minute lesson to 60 minutes, or a 60 minute lesson to a 2 hour lesson to fulfill a make up lesson obligation. When it’s convenient, we will still do that.
- I’m one of your retired adult students. Does anything change for me?: Nope. I can still move a lesson to a different day/time during the daytime hours as we do now.
- I have friends that are interested in having you teach them or their child(ren): At the moment, I can’t take anymore students in my ‘regular’ time slots. When I say regular time slots, I mean my 2-8pm daily time slots. If they are an adult, retired adult, or a pre-school/home-schooled child that are home during the daytime and before 2pm on weekdays (Sundays I’m full all day), I can certainly add them to times earlier in the day. And please still pass my contact over. I do have a waiting list now and I still like to have an initial conversation with prospective students/parents, plus I might have a spot at that time for them.
As you can see, really nothing changes, however with how busy I am now, I thought it to be important to let everyone know so we are all on the same page and not to worry about any make up lessons that need to be arranged. So long story short, make up lessons will still be arranged and honoured.
Student Corner
As you know, I love hearing about other milestones that are achieved by our students and I try to showcase those as much as possible. Sometimes they are related to music, and other times, not. Here’s some recent notable achievements that I felt needed to be showcased this month..
New Instruments: In the past couple of months, two of my piano students have received a new instrument, or have upgraded to a better instrument. First off, is Elora…Before Christmas, Elora upgraded to a new Yamaha Clavinova digital piano!! In addition, Elora has also been learning how to play the violin at school and had her first concert just before Christmas. Thanks to her Mom for sending over the concert photo!
Next up is, Noah…Noah’s parents surprised him with a new piano for Christmas! Well, as much of a surprise as they could….Because the piano was arriving just days before Christmas, they eventually had to tell him, which didn’t ruin his excitement at all. I was informed about the upgrade a week prior to the delivery and I was soo excited for Noah!!
Spelling Test Superstar: When I usually arrive for Vanishka’s weekly lesson, she is always eager to tell me about her week, especially how many slices of pizza she has on pizza day. However, at one of her lessons this month she was SUPER excited to show me how awesome she did on a spelling test at school. Vanishka got 14/15 on her test!!!!! Way to go, Vanishka!!
Upcoming Concert
I was recently contacted by Chris Bohdanowicz, the music director at St. Paul’s Church in Fort Erie, about an upcoming concert they are hosting in February. The Wychwood Clarinet Choir, directed by Michele Jacot, will be performing various musical repetoire by Leonard Bernstein, Gershwin, Cole Porter and more. Being a professional clarinetist myself, I’m hoping to attend if I can move some students around. I’m not affiliated with the church, however when Chris contacted me, I asked if it would be ok to include the information in this month’s newsletter to help promote the event some more for them. Details are in the poster below should you wish to attend.
Student Of The Month
Our Student Of The Month for January, 2025 is, Sarah!!
Sarah has been learning piano with me and has been using the Faber Piano Adventures for The Older Beginner lesson book. Sarah leads a pretty busy life each week, juggling high-school, piano lessons, and working part-time. This month, she has been very busy studying for her high-school winter term exams, which has been pretty tiring, so she requested not to have her photo taken, which is totally understandable! Sarah, I hope you did great with your exams!!
Sarah received her framed Student Of The Month certificate, and is featured in this months newsletter as well as on our Facebook and Twitter pages, and on the school website when the newsletter is posted there.
Congrats, Sarah!!
Coda
Phew!! That was a lot for our first newsletter of 2025!!
I know I’ve said this lots already, but I will continue to do so. Thank you to all the parents for the continued support, the warm welcomes every week, and your wonderful hospitality when I’m in your homes each week. I really do cherish my relationships with each of you. And to my students….You are my shining stars each week and make my job easy. Every day I’m eager to go to work and hear about your week and how you always surprise me and make me smile with your stories, hugs, and musical abilities. Continue to be the wonderful people you are.
Socials & Where To Find Us!
- Web: https://www.doansom.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ADOANSOM
- Twitter (now ‘X’): https://twitter.com/alexander_doan
- Google Reviews if you would like to leave a review: https://g.page/r/CbNrxK_Veae6EB0/review
Alexander Doan School of Music 