Gold Coast Arts Center welcomes new instructors for music program

Joe Nikic

As the Gold Coast Arts Center’s music program continues to expand, Ellen Schiff, director of the center’s School for the Arts, said they try to keep up with popular trends in music.

“We’re always expanding and reflecting the needs of the community and what’s going on contemporarily in music,” Schiff said. “We’re always looking for new and innovative classes. It’ll never stop.”

While they already have an experienced group of instructors, Schiff said, the center brought in three new instructors with international experience and “impressive credentials.”

Jan Kus, a saxophone, clarinet, and piano instructor, headed the education department of a Slovenian-based music institute.

“As an active, international working musician with a strong passion for music on one hand, and a two-time main organizer of an international summer camp of music on the other hand, I believe I possess the necessary qualities to help the students find their own paths, and reach the maximum of their musical and creative potential,” Kus said.

Hsin-Wei Chiang, a Taiwanese violin instructor, has toured with symphony orchestras in Malaysia, Italy, Hong Kong, and Berlin since she was 10 years old.

Tuomo Uusitalo, an advanced piano instructor, has won awards as a pianist and played alongside various well known artists in the Jazz world.

“I enjoy nurturing and sharing my experience with students through private and group lessons,” he said.

All three, Schiff said, were met through Maya Nova, a music instructor at the center who performed with the new instructors.

She also said the center is looking to reach out to more international talent.

“Whereas in the past we had mostly local people here, now we’re bringing international faculty to the center,” Schiff said.

She added that the experience of instructors who have performed in other countries will benefit students at the arts center.

As well as new instructors, the arts center’s music school will see more classes available during semester sessions, including an advanced group piano class taught by Uusitalo.

Classes at the center consist of six-month semester sessions in the fall and winter/spring seasons, as well as week-long summer programs.

Schiff said the new classes at the arts center include voice movement and percussion classes for children between the ages of three and four, and Introduction to Instruments for children aged six and older.

“That’s amazing because they learn piano, guitar, percussion, and voice. They are getting a whole array of instruments,” Schiff said. “We did it over the summer and it was successful so we wanted to bring it back for a semester.”

While most of the group classes are for children, Schiff said adults can register for private lessons offered by the arts center.

For more information on the Gold Coast Arts Center or available classes, you can call the center at 516-829-2570 or check their website at goldcoastarts.org.

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