Monthly Newsletters - August 2020

Now OPEN for In-Person & Online Music & Dance Lessons

Dear Parents, students, and future students!

Fall 2020 is quickly approaching and that means “Back to School” this month for some of us and after Labor day for the rest of us. But what “back to school” exactly means will vary drastically for everyone this year.

Whatever you decide is in the best interests of your family this Fall, I think that we are all trying to balance safety without losing essential opportunities for prosperity, peace, hope, and joy. Finding the time and means to still do things you enjoy and that develop the mind and creative spirit is crucial now more than ever not only for our children but for ourselves as adults!

Indeed, with so much uncertainty going on, we wanted to remove just a little bit of that from your life and let you know that we are still holding classes online and in-person this Fall!

Instead of reading about it, we thought we’d let you see how our faculty, faculty, staff, and students have adapted to making music and dancing together safely in 2020:

Of course, we realize that not everyone is yet comfortable returning to campus. While many local schools had their first experience with online lessons over the past few months, at LAAPA, we have been offering online lessons since 2012! Both music and dance students are welcome to enroll and attend classes completely online via the Zoom application. Some students come in person some weeks and online other weeks. Our parents and students have discovered that having a hybrid approach to lessons (such as ours) has been especially handy during bad weather, excessive traffic, unexpected scheduling changes.

You can learn more about taking lessons with us online here: https://www.laapa.com/online

Finally, a word to our current students participating in our August recitals...

We are greatly looking forward to seeing all of you in our upcoming socially distant, small group recital performances. While we are all used to performing for hundreds of guests at a time, this year will be noticeably different for everyone’s safety!

For details on our upcoming performances this month, please visit https://www.laapa.com/current-students so that you’re fully prepared, aware of dates/times, and what to expect.

Please understand that we always want our families to bring as many guests as they like to our productions and it really upsets us that we cannot do that this year. Each family is allowed one guest in the performance venue unless directed otherwise – we are trying to make exceptions to allow both parents to attend for recitals with siblings enrolled where capacity will allow. If we can make it happen, believe us, we will and we will notify you, but we ask for your understanding if we cannot. We appreciate you understanding that this will not be possible in each recital as 50 people (inclusive of guests, students, faculty and staff) is a restriction set by Louisiana and not us or the venues.

For those that want to be with us in person but cannot, we encourage you to watch with us online at https://www.laapa.com/live. We are stepping up our live production quality and will be streaming all performances in a “multi” camera style stream that can get close ups on stage of all performers. While the internet and live streaming is always a best effort, we have been offering this FREE for many years now and our setup has evolved into more than just someone holding up an iPhone and shooting a live Facebook video. We encourage you to support our student performers by giving them shout-outs in the comments section throughout each performance!

Music and Dance is a gift to us all, and we look forward to safely sharing it with you this Fall!

Ryan Cullen, Executive Director

Back to School - Lessons Available Online or In-Person!

At LAAPA, we offer the most comprehensive Music & Dance Program in the Greater New Orleans area with three campuses located in Covington, Harahan, and Mandeville. For over 40 years, we’ve provided lessons to tens of thousands of students in Piano, Guitar, Voice, Violin, Drums, Ballet, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Tap, Brass, Woodwind, Bands, Preschool Music, and more!

Covington: 985-590-4545
Mandeville: 985-674-2992
River Ridge: 504-738-3050

Enroll Today!

Student News

Join us in congratulating our former preschool, piano and voice teacher, Mrs. Kadi P., on the birth of her sweet triplets! We wish you and your family all the best, Mrs. Kadi!

In Mr. Ryan's Beginner's Band class, enthusiastic campers learned about dynamics as well as the history of the piano and harpsichord. Alexis M. (11) says her favorite thing about camp is learning different styles of dance. She loves hip hop dance! Colin F. (10) says he was most excited to learn more about guitar this week, but he started to really enjoy bass, too. Megan S. (10) was surpised to learn that flute would be in her Rock & Pop Band class! She's excited to learn tumble at camp next week. Dylan S. (11) says his favorite thing about camp so far has been playing bass guitar. He likes that the bass is even more versatile than an acoustic guitar and loves playing fretless bass.

Faculty Morgan W. and student Michael L. are rehearsing their parts in A Chorus Line for Playmakers. Break a leg, you two!

Mandeville School of Music & Dance student Rowan V. saved up 10 Superior Student tickets and redeemed them for this cool toy car. Great job, Rowan!

River Ridge School of Music & Dance students, Layla Baldwin and Kamiya Collins are building flexibility in our Contemporary / Modern 2 Class warm-up routine. Both students will be performing a retro creation in the fall recital featuring music from Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong. It's sure to be an incredible performance!

Send Us Your News!

We love getting your news, success stories and comments. If you'd like to share your news with us, please e-mail at studentnews@laapa.com. Please note that we publish our newsletters monthly, and if you don't see your submission in this edition, it will be published as soon as space is available! Connect with us on Facebook at facebook.com/laapaface, youtube.com/laapatube, and now on Twitter at @laapatweets.

Recording Studio

Our recording studio is located at the Mandeville campus and features a 32 track ProTools system, 4k video cameras, premium mics and equipment. Click the button below to learn more, schedule a studio tour or Book Your Session today!

Learn More!

Happy August Birthdays!

We'd like to wish the following Students, Faculty, and Staff a very Happy Birthday this Month!

Students: Israel P. (14), Israel R. (26), Reese M. (13), Mark B. (9), Rob D. (61), Karlee B. (23), Isabella M. (10), Cole M. (9), James C. (5), Brynn H. (14), Alvin L. (8), Alecsander C. (16), Nathaniel H. (10), Benjamin V. (12), Leonte C. (11), Joseph O. (6), Adrian N. (2), Rebecca W. (67), Melby M. (50), Janessa Z. (11), Cailah F. (10), Neingala D. (50), Gabby H. (14), Mercy M. (11), Ryder H. (15), Aidan D. (12), Locke B. (6), Helenna P. (6), Katherine S. (27), Preston L. (11), Gabrielle W. (10), Kailani Z. (5), Lucien F. (2), Gabriella A. (9), Rylee Anne M. (8), Loria D. (17), Isabella C. (7), Kennysha O. (2), Lynne D. (61), Amethyst P. (3), Evelyn C. (11), Evelynn C. (11), Fiona O. (10), Elizabeth E. (9), Liam D. (10), Julia B. (9), Laurie B. (46), Hailey S. (15), Zachary B. (7), Kennedy K. (7), Audrey O. (7), Desmond B. (17), Aimee L. (14), Bonnie S. (14), Mikaela H. (11), Anabella F. (7), Christopher B. (14), Katherine C. (12), Emma P. (8), Finnley H. (7), Sawyer S. (7), Travis G. (37), Aidan H. (15), Adelyn M. (9), Immanuel H. (3), Caroline M. (3), James L. (2), Mia W. (16), Logan T. (14), Jane S. (12), Mary D. (11), Abigail E. (7), Constance H. (69), Lara D. (9), Hannah S. (8), Evan S. (13), Ethan G. (11), Sami S. (22), Jillian J. (11), Kinsley S. (8), Emma A. (7), Lucas D. (3), Marla H. (15), Makenzie L. (13), Anna D. (9), Nora E. (9), Tripp W. (14), Vivi B. (9), Emma-Lee C. (4)

Video of the Month - Piano - Beginning Piano Lessons - Identifying Note Names on the Piano

Ms. Jennifer Hoover, piano instrucor at LAAPA, demonstrates how easy it is to learn notes on the piano! This is a great video for beginners.

Learn more about getting started in piano lessons locally or online by visiting https://www.laapa.com/piano-lessons.

Important Dates

Take a moment to review the following upcoming dates:

New Artwork by Michaela Howell

We are very fortunate to work with local artist Michaela Howell. Many of her paintings and art are on display at all three of our school campuses!

Michaela recently brought in new artwork that can be viewed at both of our Northshore campuses. The beautiful piece above is available for purchase at our Mandeville location for $425

Interested in purchasing art from Michaela? Inquire at the front desk!

With down home country humble beginnings Michaela has always been very resourceful. She cuts, sands, primes, paints, and in some cases stains her abstract versions of the wooden instruments, creating very hands-on works of art. This resourcefulness has “Played” out very nicely in her most current work. Though the recycling of varying musical instrument components including guitar strings, violin knobs, music sheets featuring the instrument showcased, Michaela portrays a ‘current’ sense of style combined with a very vivid color pallet, creating a symphony for the senses!

View More!

Students Spotlight - Miles & Lincoln Bonvillain

This month's student spotlights are Covington School of Music students, Miles (left) and Lincoln (right) Bonvillain. Lincoln is currently studying guitar and Miles is studying piano, both with Mr. Ryan T.

Lincoln said his favorite part about taking lessons was learning Rock n' Roll riffs, so it's no big surprise that his favorite type of music to listen to and play is Rock n' Roll! Outside of music, Lincoln enjoys football and video games, and says he wants to be an architect when he grows up.

Miles says his favorite part about taking music lessons is mastering new songs. Outside of music, he enjoys Minecraft and watching TV. Miles loves all genres of music and has big dreams for when he grows up - he wants to either host a survival TV show, be a famous pianist, or be the first man on Mars!

A HUGE welcome to our newest students who began lessons or added programs in July!

We are so happy that you’ve chosen to study at LAAPA. We know you will do great things this year!