Monthly Newsletters - April 2025

2025 Music Concerts & Award Ceremonies

Dear Students and Parents,

 

Spring has sprung, and so did a bunch of long lost and forgotten toys, tools, and objects from under the lawnmower while I was cutting the grass this past weekend! I guess Eleanor missed a few things when I asked her to pick up the yard before I fired up the Dixie Chopper. Luckily, no one was nearby when the miniature hammer went flying. You think I make this stuff up just for my newsletters, but I assure you, I keep it real, folks.

 

I’d like to first congratulate our adult student musicians who put on a fabulous concert at the River Ridge Campus Performance Hall this past month! We’ll be posting some photos soon!

 

A huge congratulations to all of our LAAPAFEST music participants this past month as well! 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 to go through the comments with you at your next lesson and 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 and drama 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 had to beg them to try it out… the FIRST time. Then, they tend to be hooked!

 

Our 2025 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. Our Summer Drama Showcase will also be held in a few short months, and our acting & musical theatre students can sign up at https://www.laapa.com/current-students/drama-show-signup.

 

Many awards will be presented at our summer ceremonies 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 these award ceremonies.

 

Our 2025 Music Concerts & Award Ceremonies will be held at Jefferson Performing Arts Center - 177 A-Sala Avenue in Westwego - 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, & Drama 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, Executive Director

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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!

Aaron M [8], Akshata P [8], Alexander M [17], Allie E [14], Amy J [7], Andrew R, Andrew S, Apollo D [6], Arianna B [12], Asher M [9], Astoria M [7], Atticus R [11], Aubrey D [11], August P [10], Ava R [10], Avery D [12], Benjamin M [13], Braxton V [11], Brayden F [15], Brynn L [17], Cecilia R [11], Charlie M [13], Charlie D [5], Chloe C [3], Christian H,Connor K [7], Dakota C [14], Dash B [12], Deborah-Lee S, Debra H [5], Declan P [6], Diego M [14], Dottie W, Eileen D [11], Ele I [8], Elizabeth G,Ella M [7], Emilia D [7], Evelyn O [9], Finn S [8], Gabriel O [8], Greta L [12], Hailey H [8], Hazel H [6], Hendrix R [10], Irene S [6], Isabel V [9], Isabel L [15], Isabella M [8], Ivan L, Jersey R [10], Jhett B [8], Joulan J [5], Jude D [12], June B [6], Keith S, Kelton C, Kenyell B [12], Krystanna S [3], Layne C, Lia R, Louis H [6], Louis L [9], Lucas Z [13], Luck V [2], Luxe C [2], Ma. Cristina B, Maddie M [9], Maggie G, Magnolia S [15], Mallory C [12], Marin B [7], Matthew W, Matthias B, Max L [11], McKenzie N [5], Michelle L [10], My’Keyell B [13], Natalia B [11], Nicholas L [14], Oliver H [13], Olivier F [7], Ophelia N, Paris P [13], Parker J [6], Pierre L [12], Porter H [14], Raegan T [3], Ralph K, Randolph T [5], Rayleigh H [12], Rex B [13], Rosibeth E [9], Ryan C [11], Sloane Joseph P [3], Sofia T [5], Sophia B [12], Tabatha C, Tam N [5], Thalia B [15], Thiago A [6], Tiffany M, Victoria S [13], Vivian B [9], Wylie J [13], Zackary G [14]

Camp spots are filling quickly!

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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!

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Student Spotlight - Victoria Vitter

This month’s Student Spotlight features Mandeville School of Music & Dance student Victoria Vitter! Victoria has been with us here at LAAPA for over three years - she is currently taking violin and piano lessons!

Outside of LAAPA, Victoria enjoys a multitude of hobbies. She partakes in gymnastics, basketball, and dance. Victoria’s favorite music genres are pop, country, and jazz. Her favorite artist is Taylor Swift. Victoria doesn’t have a favorite band; rather, she enjoys a variety of solo artists! She is currently working on mastering back handsprings in gymnastics in addition to her weekly music lessons here at LAAPA.

Victoria’s favorite thing about her instructor, Dr. Vera, is how kind she is. Victoria says “She’s the best teacher [I’ve] ever had.” Her favorite part of lessons is learning new techniques and pieces on piano. When asked what she likes about LAAPA, Victoria emphatically stated one word - everything! Lessons have given Victoria a greater depth of understanding of musical technique, and she’s especially enjoyed learning the G scale and learning to play ‘Jupiter.’ We are all so very proud of how far you’ve come in your musical journey, and we look forward to seeing what you accomplish in the future!

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!