Monthly Newsletters - Need Something Fun & Creative to Do this Summer?, Families, Faculty & Staff, Student Spotlight - Aiden Sharpe, Student News, Online Lessons, and more!...

Need Something Fun & Creative to Do this Summer?

Dear Students and Parents,

It’s hard to believe Summer is almost here! Summer is our busiest season of all with recitals, camps, and of course new students eager to get started in music and dance lessons!

 

Congrats to our graduating seniors! I won’t lie - it’s always hard to say goodbye especially for those of you I’ve watched get started from the beginning all those years ago. But having the opportunity to watch the culmination of your years of study, hard work, and knowing that music and dance are now an inseparable part of your lives makes up for it. Our senior recital will be held this year on May 29 at the Mandeville Campus.

 

We are also bursting with excitement in anticipation of our 2021 June Music Recitals & August Dance Recitals. Tickets are now available for all productions at eveyannts.laapa.com! Please note that seating is still extremely limited due to reduced capacity, so we encourage you to plan ahead. See last month’s newsletter for more info!

Around this time each year, parents tend to ask us how the Summer works and if we continue lessons. The fun never stops here at LAAPA, and the majority of students continue progressing year round! We expect this Summer to be one of our busiest yet as we recently welcomed our 1,500th student through our doors! As such, we are actively preparing by hiring new faculty as many of our teachers are completely booked or have very few openings. Our summer camps are completely sold out and we will be welcoming over 160 summer camp students this July! 80 percent of our students have been back in person for a while now with their lessons, and each summer we enroll hundreds of new students. We expect this summer to be even busier due to students that have been cooped up in the house desperately seeking in-person activities!

 

So the big thing to keep in mind is that students who love their current teacher and schedule and don’t want to lose it due to summer travel have a few options: 1.) Zoom into your lessons at any time – just let us know week to week how you’d like to attend. Many students have been attending some weeks in person and some weeks via Zoom since last June and it’s a seamless process. 2.) Your teacher can send you a pre-recorded makeup lesson video for you to either bring with you on your trip or to practice with once you get home! 3.) Take advantage of scheduling a makeup workshop either after or in advance of your missed dates. Makeup workshops are available for an unlimited number of absences for as long as you are enrolled with us. 4.) Lease out your spot to a friend or family member temporarily! So have fun travelling this Summer – boy do we all need it, but there is no need to lose your prime spots with your teacher (especially those from 3:30-7:30)!

 

As I mentioned, Summer is a popular time for new students to get started in music and dance lessons here at LAAPA! If your children are anything like mine during the Summer, do they appear out of the blue, arms crossed, staring at you (after you just sat down to relax) and ask, “What can I do?” Do they follow you around the house each day asking you, “What can I do now?”, “I’m bored.”? This summer, more than ever, instead of playing around with video games, let us put an instrument in their hands and show them how to play their favorite songs! Instead of kicking back in the recliner in front of the TV, how about bustin’ a move during hip hop or one of our many dance classes! Do you wake up each morning to the joyful sounds of your son or daughter endlessly singing or pounding away at random notes on the piano? Let us show them how to make beautiful music in your home! Does your child drive you crazy beating on the kitchen pots and pans? How about drum lessons instead? Guaranteed to put all of that energy to good use! We can also recommend some excellent silent drum sets like we have at our schools for a peaceful and happy home! Already taking a program with LAAPA? The summer is an excellent time to add a program or increase your weekly lesson time.

 

Whatever you do this summer - don’t just sit around - be creative and enjoy doing something new and fun! I hope to see everyone this Summer at our main events of the year.

 

Ryan Cullen, Director

Join the Fun with Music & Dance

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

Mandeville School of Music & Dance vocal student, Preston Legg, was recently asked to perform in his school’s talent show this month. He will be performing “It Isn’t in My Blood”. Preston has been taking voice lessons with Dr. Vera for nearly 2 years. It’s been such a joy watching him learn and grow! Congrats, Preston! We know you’ll impress the crowd!

Congrats to all our LAAPAFEST Dance participants on such wonderful performances! We enjoyed watching each of you demonstrate all you’ve learned this year.

 

 

Thank you to all of our students and families for voting us the best Performing Arts School with Sophisitated Woman Magazine again this year! We are so grateful to you all.

Our lobbies are now back open to 100% capacity! Parents are welcome to join us in the lobby during lessons. We look forward to seeing all of your friendly faces again soon!

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!

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Happy May Birthdays!

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

Aaliyah R. (19), Abigail N. (13), Abigail G. (11), Adam S. (11), Addilyn S. (3), Adelaide S. (9), Alexis H. (17), Alexis R. (12), Alohn H. (11), Amani N. (7), Ariana A. (18), Ariel H. (4), Aubrey R. (28), Audrey C. (7), Avelyn M. (2), Ayesha S. (14), Benjamin B. (12), Brady D. (13), Brooklyn R. (9), Cambre A. (8), Camille M. (3), Camille O. (10), Charlie M. (11), Charlotte S. (8), Coraline S. (7), Craig H. (56), Elien W. (10), Elienai R. (7), Ellie P. (13), Eloise S. (6), Emersyn O. (13), Emilie M. (4), Eva W. (3), Evan V. (23), Felicity J. (3), Finley S. (5), Gabriel N. (7), Gabriella C. (7), Greyson P. (9), Hannah S. (18), Hannah W. (15), Harmony S. (8), Hazel H. (11), Ian V. (7), Jack G. (13), Jake T. (15), James F. (8), Jordyn D. (5), Joseph S. (10), Jude F. (8), Kayli P. (10), Lauren P. (12), Laurie T. (54), Leana K. (10), Lena Z. (11), Lucas L. (2), Matthew G. (15), Micah N. (4), Michael L. (50), Myles B. (13), Norah T. (7), Oakleigh F. (8), Oliver B. (1), Opal D. (13), Paloma P. (15), Peyton C. (14), Rainah C. (7), Rick F. (59), Rowan V. (9), Sameen H. (16), Samuel S. (15), Savannah R. (10), Savannah I. (7), Sawyer S. (8), Shagun A. (12), Sophie M. (9), Stevey W. (8), Tatumn P. (15), Vaishant K. (10), Vivian M. (12), Vivienne D. (7), Wesley S. (7), Wyatt J. (7), Zachary S. (12), Zoe E. (12)

Video of the Month - Songwriting with Chris Hochkeppel of "Burris"

Mr. Chris Hochkeppel, instructor of general music and founding member of New Orleans based Roots/Rock band, "Burris", recently took some time to break down his approach to popular songwriting. If you're an aspiring singer/songwriter, get out your guitar and notebook and be ready to learn a variety of chords, melodic composition tools, tips and tricks. To learn more about getting started in music lessons locally or online, visit https://www.laapa.com/

 

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 - Aiden Sharpe

This month’s student spotlight is Covington School of Music student Aiden Sharpe. Aiden is currently studying piano, voice, guitar and drums with us here at LAAPA. Wow! Aiden’s favorite part of lessons with us is that his teachers make learning fun.

Aiden’s favorite artist is Justin Bieber, and his favorite music genre is Pop. Outside of lessons at LAAPA, he enjoys playing video games and spending time with family - he’s also currently learning to speak Italian in his free time!

When we asked Aiden what he wants to be when he grows up, he said he wants to be an astronaut, engineer or scientist. Dream big!

When we asked Aiden and his mom why they chose LAAPA for music lessons, they told us it’s because LAAPA has a very professional program!

Thanks so much for sharing, Aiden! We’re so thrilled to have you as a member of our LAAPA family.

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

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