Fall Quarter 2002 September 2 - December 1, 2002

A Loss to Our Faculty

We’ve lost one of our most cheerful and encouraging instructors. Mary Cox, a charter faculty member of Music Arts, died recently at age 88.

In our early days, Mary taught violin and viola as well as piano, and during the 1990s taught piano. Pick up your Student Guide and look on page 13. Mary’s shown looking through our music library in that picture.

Her last gesture to Music Arts came less than a week before her death, when she donated her music to our library.

Please Help our Scholarship Students!

Please consider sharing your love of music with a less fortunate student... Give a few bucks to our fund. Each year, Music Arts holds a Fund Drive which allows us to make sure that all young students can afford lessons.

This is one of our most special projects. We feel very strongly about making lessons available to all children who want lessons. The fund has been helping students for nearly 20 years... and some of our earlier scholarship students have written back, as adults, to tell us how much it meant to them.

We’ll accept any amount. But a donation of at least $25 will get your name listed on the backs of our programs. Larger donations will be cheerfully accepted. You’ve probably noticed such categories as "Patron," "Benefactor," etc on the backs of our programs.

It’s easy – just add whatever sum you wish to your next payment to us, and enclose a note letting us know that you’re helping.

Electronic Billing is Here!

Music Arts hopes to switch the majority of our student accounts over to electronic billing. If you have email capabilities, we would like to send your Music Arts bill by the zap. We hope you’ll approve!

Many of our students/parents are presently receiving their bills this way, and are enthusiastic about it. And naturally, we’re enthusiastic about not having to spend an ever-increasing amount on the post office’s services!

When you send in your payment, please fill out the information request on the top portion of your bill, giving us your email address and telling us which word processor you use. This will allow us to send you a bill which is formatted exactly like your present bill. (Unfortunately we can’t support Macintosh at this time.) When we receive your OK and email information, we’ll send a "sample" bill to you to make sure everything’s in order

If you prefer not to receive your bill electronically, we’ll gladly continue to send your bills by U.S. mail.

. . . but it’s a One-Way Street . . .

Some of you have asked about paying with a credit card. We wish we could offer you the same postage-saving opportunity, but because credit card companies charge for their services, the result would mean that nearly half of the money that keeps the school running (after your instructor is paid) would go to the credit card company! And we don’t want to add to the cost of doing business! (We’d rather keep our cash for paying for your discounts and Bonus Lessons!)

Remember, though, if you want to save postage, you can use the drop box on the side of the garage at director Nancy England’s home at 861 West Outer Drive (corner of Mississippi Avenue).

Forgotten when the Quarter starts and ends?

Check out your recent bill – it’s listed near the top (usually in color) as well as at the top of our newsletters!

Gerald Fowkes signs on to the Music Arts cello faculty.

Gerald Fowkes joins Annaliese Helm and Marshunda Smith on the Music Arts cello faculty. Fowkes is a graduate student, working toward his Master’s degree in cello performance at UT. He and his wife recently moved to Knoxville, but we have been in contact since late Spring and are looking forward to having him on our faculty.

Fowkes has plenty of experience not only in teaching but in orchestral performance. His resumé is impressive. He’s been a member of a number of orchestras, and been principal cellist in several of them.

Better yet, he’s a nice guy who’s enthusiastic about teaching. He says he had a terrific teacher and wants to pass on the knowledge he learned.

He loves everything about the cello – the range of notes, the cello’s important contribution to orchestral and ensemble playing, and especially its sound. His most important goal in teaching is to help students get a good sound, adding that "Technique and musical instinct will all come when you try to make good music."

Fowkes says he’ll consider taking students as young as age 6, but feels that waiting until age 8 or 9 is going to mean better progress.

Let your friends know that our new cello instructor is looking forward to getting lots of students – and remember, when your friends let us know that you were the person who referred them to Music Arts, you’ll get some free lessons out of it! Check out the details in your copy of the Student Guide, on page 8.

Speaking of young beginners!...

Just a couple of days ago, an enthusiastic mother called us to sign up her 2-year-old for voice lessons. We were happy to refer her to the local Kindermusik classes with Jenny Caughman. Most of our instructors feel that private lessons are more effective with kids 5 to 6 or older, since they will have longer attention spans, and be able to take more responsibility for their progress.

Do you have younger children (or know of some) who want to join in the fun of making music? Consider enrolling them in Kindermusik classes as a way of developing a good foundation for private music instruction.

There are various levels of classes, from infants to up through 7 years old.

The goal of Kindermusik is to instill a love of music, focusing on process, not performance. Music is used to encourage a child's cognitive, emotional, social, language and physical development.

All classes meet weekly for fifteen weeks, with class time varying from 30 to 60 minutes in length (depending on the age of the child). Tuition for the different 15 week classes is between $110 and $130. Home material fees run between $50 and $75 per semester, depending on the class. Jenny Caughman, a licensed Kindermusik education, teaches classes in Oak Ridge at Grace Lutheran Church (131 W. Gettysburg). For more information about classes starting the week of September 3rd, please call Jenny at 482-9319.

Incidentally, Jenny has established some scholarship slots in her classes, so if you know a family whose younger child would benefit and who would need scholarship assistance, let them know about it.

Want a 10% discount next summer?

While you’re on page 8 of the Student Guide, check out the details of earning a 10% Prompt Payment discount on your continuing lessons next summer.

A large number of students were given the 10% discount on their continuing lessons last quarter because their bills were paid on time since the previous Fall Quarter.