Fox Park Music, owned and operate by Julia Proleiko, was basically my home away from home from the time I started violin lessons at the age of 10 and when I left for college at 17. Not only did I learn how to play violin, I learned how to "learn."
If you were interested in a specific kind of music (movie soundtrack, Broadway musical, bluegrass, hip-hop, fiddle, etc.) Julia would go out of her way to find something suited to your proficiency level--oftentimes a piece that encourages you to reach beyond your limits and really improve! --and not only teach you how to play it, but equip you with the proper tools so that you know how to approach such a piece on your own outside of a studio lesson.
Not only did this come in handy when learning pieces of music on my own, but this method of teaching later became applicable to me in college and graduate school. Learning violin and music theory at Fox Park taught me how to be disciplined when it came to completing a task every single day as well as setting a daily goal for myself. Most people who took music lessons as young people can say that they learned the benefit of daily practice, but I think what makes Julia, and Fox Park Music, unique is that she encouraged a specific quality of practice. If you were given three assignments for the week and you only completed one, but could do it exactly right, that was better than doing all three poorly. Quality over quantity seems like a cliché, but when it comes to perfecting an art and teaching students what success looks like, the phrase is appropriate.
I am a testament to the idea that setting students up for success in every part of their life by teaching them how to do small things well is the best teaching method. This is the building block for successful professionals and artists. Learning to play basic pieces in a beautiful and graceful way is more important than playing a large, subpar repertoire. This goes beyond playing an instrument and I apply this practice to all aspects of my adult creative life.
Julia encourages her student to passionately pursue what inspires them. Her studio felt like a real-life musical community to which I belonged. I would 100% recommend parents and teachers to send their students to Julia for lessons. read more
