Monthly Newsletters - April 2024

2024 Music Concerts & Award Ceremonies

Dear Students and Parents,

As I was cleaning up my old cast iron mailbox that decided to spontaneously collapse and break into pieces, I found myself looking around the yard while my daughter Eleanor and I installed the new and improved one. The trees need trimming, the grass needs cutting, the weeds need pulling, our picnic table seems to have fallen over, and the spot where I peeled out in the middle of the lawn during the never-ending deluge we had back in January when pulling our trailer full of theater equipment for “Annie Jr” needs to be patched up. Having made these observations, I realized two things. First of all, Spring is here, and we’re about to kick off a very exciting season here at LAAPA! Secondly, my kids have a lot to do at the house… Better get crackin’ kids!

 

I’d like to first congratulate our adult student musicians who put on a fabulous concert at the River Ridge School of Music & Dance Performance Hall this past month! We’ll be posting the complete photo album soon on our main Facebook page, so be sure to check it out!

 

A huge congratulations to all of our LAAPAFEST music participants this past month! I was personally on-site recording everything in our studio and was thrilled to hear some excellent performances! As in years past, 99% of our students placed in the top 3 overall rating groups meriting Superior, Excellent, and Satisfactory scores. Each year, I tend to mention that the judges showed “tough love”. This year was certainly no exception, so please understand that all comments are meant for your personal growth and should not detract at all from the positive energy and hard work that you’ve put in with your teachers. Be sure to look at the plus signs in addition to the minus signs on the rating sheet. Ask your teacher for further guidance if you have questions about any of the judges’ remarks. If you didn’t score as highly as you would have liked to, ask your teacher for their thoughts on how you can plan for next year!

 

This month, we look forward to having our dance students perform their LAAPAFEST solos, and we can’t wait to see the results of their hard work as well!

 

Our Virtual Recitals featuring selected students from LAAPAFEST will air beginning this May at laapa.com/live. Exact dates/times TBA!

 

I do realize that we talk about performances often in the newsletters, yet only around half of our students choose to participate in these opportunities. That’s perfectly fine too, as we never want to force anyone to perform before they are ready! Our student body is also quite diverse with many different goals and expectations. We realize that many students come to us just to learn to play, dance, sing or act for their own personal growth and enjoyment. I will say though that many of our students didn’t think they’d enjoy performing at first, and their teachers often must beg them to try it out… the FIRST time. Then, they tend to be hooked!

 

Our 2024 Music Concerts & Award Ceremonies are our main events of the year, not to be missed, and are open to all currently enrolled students! While our dancers have already signed up, music students may now reserve their spots at https://www.laapa.com/music-concert. Many awards will be presented at these programs based on the number of years students have been studying in their program at LAAPA. Every student who is performing will be recognized for his/her time of study and accomplishments. Students who compose and score their own music and/or who participated in LAAPAFEST will additionally be recognized in those award ceremonies.

 

Our 2024 Music Concerts & Award Ceremonies will be held at St. Martin’s Solomon Theatre – 225 Green Acres Rd in Metairie - for the River Ridge School of Music & Dance campus and at Fuhrmann Auditorium – 128 W 23rd Ave in Covington - for the Mandeville and Covington campuses. Tickets will be available soon for all productions at events.laapa.com. Seating does fill quickly, so we highly recommend ordering your tickets online in advance of the events. At LAAPA, all families receive 2 FREE tickets to our music and dance concerts, so please keep that in mind when purchasing. These tickets will be sent via email to the address specified on the sign-up form within a few weeks of the shows. Of course, in case you have family and friends that can’t make the show in person or perhaps just aren’t quite ready to attend a live show yet, many of our concerts will be live streamed completely free of charge via our website at laapa.com/live. Just stay tuned for live stream dates!

 

Lastly, I wanted to also mention our upcoming Summer Music & Dance Camps, which have grown in popularity each year to the point that they sell out quickly! Several weeks are now nearly sold out, so if you’d like to join the fun this July, I’d encourage you to check out laapa.com/camp to learn more and reserve your spot(s) now before they are all gone!

 

~ Ryan Cullen, Academy Director

Join the Fun this Summer!

Ready to have a blast this summer? Summer Music Camps and Summer Dance Camps at our New Orleans and Mandeville campuses provide students ages 5-14 with a choice of over 25 instrumental, vocal, drama, and dance programs to explore!

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

Enroll Today!

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 April Birthdays!

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

Adalynn E. (9) , Alexander M. (16) , Allie E. (13) , Allison C. , Allison E. (10) , Andrew R. , Apollo D. (5) , Arden P. (10) , Arianna B. (11) , Arya Isabel G. (5) , Asher M. (8) , Ashley Fernanda C. (10) , Ashlynn B. (11) , Astoria M. (6) , Ava R. (9) , Benjamin M. (12) , Brandon S. (17) , Braxton V. (10) , Brynn L. (16) , Cassie H. , Cate G. (18) , Charleigh W. (11) , Charlie D. (4) , Christian H. (21) , Dakota C. (13) , Dash B. (11) , Deborah-Lee S. , Delaney E. (9) , Diego M. (13) , Edith B. (11) , Ele I. (7) , Elizabeth G. , Ella M. (6) , Evelyn O. (8) , Everett B. (6) , Gabrielle A. (10) , Gianna P. (5) , Graham M. (16) , Greta L. (11) , Hailey H. (7) , Hannah H. (2) , Helen B. (14) , Isabel L. (14) , Isabel V. (8) , Isabella M. (7) , Isabella R. (17) , Ivan L. (18) , Jarod H. , Jhett B. (7) , John Michael P. (9) , Jonathan M. (13) , Jose L. , Joulan J. (4) , Kaia L. (7) , Keith S. , Layne C. (17) , Lia R. (17) , Lucas Z. (12) , Maddie M. (8) , Madeleine B. (12) , Maggie G. , Maggie S. (14) , Mallory C. (11) , Marin B. (6) , Matteo P. (8) , Matthias B. (17) , Max L. (10) , Mia M. (18) , Michelle L. (9) , Murphy A. , Naomi F. (10) , Nicholas L. (13) , Noah K. (16) , Oliver H. (12) , Olivier F. (6) , Paul A. (16) , Paul W. , Phoebe C. (9) , Pierre L. (11) , Ralph K. , Rayleigh H. (11) , Reese Q. (10) , Rex B. (12) , Riley A. (10) , Robert H. (10) , Rosibeth E. (8) , Ryan C. (10) , Scarlette G. (9) , Sloane Joseph P. (2) , Sophia P. (9) , Sophian M. (4) , Sydney C. (17) , Tabatha C. , Tam H. (4) , Tara C. , Tayen F. (15) , Teagan M. (8) , Thalia B. (14) , Thiago A. (5) , Tiffany M. , Victoria S. (12) , Westley S. (5) , Wylie J. (12) , Zackary G. (13) , Zion Q. (4)

Video of the Month - "Exciting News for April 1, 2024 "

Ryan and Jamie share some exciting breaking news on this first day of April!

 

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 $850

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!

Student Spotlight - Alex Chandler

This month’s Student Spotlight features Mandeville School of Music & Dance student Alex Chandler! Alex has been taking piano lessons with Mr. Nicoli for 2 years!

Outside of LAAPA, Alex plays tennis (at least 10 hours a week, with tournaments almost every weekend.) He also enjoys going to see the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (especially at open rehearsals), cooking, playing chess, studying, and spending time with his family. Alex likes to listen to jazz, classical, and rock music. His favorite artists are Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Masayoshi Takanaka. His favorite bands are Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, the Beatles, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. In the future, Alex wants to become an engineer or do something in the medical field.

Alex loves taking lessons with Nicoli because “I enjoy his teaching style and that he mixes up what we do and talk about week to week. Almost every time I have a question, he is able to answer it. If he can’t, we figure it out. He is also very encouraging and is a great fit for my personal musical goals.” Alex really enjoys performing in recitals because they give him a goal to work towards with a particular piece. Thanks to lessons, Alex feels like he has “a solid grasp of the basics of music theory and how to play piano.” His favorite part of lessons is learning/discussing new music theory concepts.

Thanks for being a part of our school, Alex! We love having you as a student here!

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!