Our specialized Piano Classes for adults ages 55 and older provide the perfect atmosphere to learn piano skills, play your favorite songs and enjoy socializing with your classmates. Plus, the class price is discounted!

Instructors Dr. Ina Mirtcheva Blevins and Mr. David Norfrey will begin teaching another 10-week session of 55+ Piano Classes in a few weeks. Level 1 is the perfect place to start, with Ina’s Wednesday morning class (11:30am-12:30pm, starting March 22nd) or David’s Thursday evening class (6pm-7pm, starting March 23rd). Level 1 students often return for multiple sessions, continuing on to Level 2 and Intermediate classes.

 

 

The classes are designed to be stress-free and enjoyable while stimulating the mind and providing real musical outcomes (such as learning to play your favorite tune). Bouts of laughter are often heard through the door of the Piano Lab during these class times! Class size is limited to 8 students (one student per piano) which allows for a great group dynamic while still providing important one-on-one attention.

Our Piano Lab is fully accessible, located on the first floor of our Potomac building, which is on Chain Bridge Road in Fairfax City just north of the Mason campus. There is also convenient parking right next to the building.

 

 

Why not learn to “tickle the ivories”, as they say, and tickle your fancy at the same time? Class prices are discounted at $255 (regular $285). Register today for our Spring session – and tell your friends to join you!

LEARN MORE & REGISTER

 

Violin Teaching Artist Claire Allen has a full studio of burgeoning violinists at the Academy. With a solo recital performance coming up this Sunday, February 19th in DC, Ms. Allen sat down with us to give a little more background into who she is as an individual and as a teacher.

 

MGeske: How many years have you taught at Potomac Arts Academy?

CAllen: I started in September of 2013, so about three and a half years.

 

MGeske: What is special about working for Potomac?

CAllen: What I’ve loved about Potomac from the beginning is that it is a place where I feel I am part of a team working to create experiences for students that are fresh, dynamic, and exciting. I’ve been able to take ideas for programs and classes that only existed in my head and turn them into reality by working with our phenomenal administrative staff and my fellow teachers. It’s an incredible opportunity to be able to help shape a program like this and to be able to create a wonderful environment for my students to learn.

 

MGeske: How did you first fall in love with music?

CAllen: I have always loved music, for as long as I can remember. My parents always had classical music on in the house when I was a child. When listening to Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kiji Suite, my dad would tell me a story about soldiers marching down our street. When the music was softer, they were farther away. When it was at its loudest, they were right outside the house! I would run to the window to see them, but he told me I always just missed them. In fourth grade, we were able to start learning an instrument at school, and I don’t remember consciously making a choice. I wanted to play the violin, and never considered anything else.

 

 

 

MGeske: Tell us about a teaching experience you had that was especially memorable.

CAllen: During my first year teaching, I ran a practice challenge in my studio. One of the ways the students could earn points was to read books about composers. My student Hannah was six at the time and she said to me, “Why are all the composers I learn about men?” That question led me to discover Cora Cooper’s fantastic anthologies of music by female composers, and now those pieces are fully integrated with the more traditional Suzuki repertoire I teach. I was in my early 20’s before I played a piece written by a woman – for my students, it happens in the first year of learning violin. It’s a normal thing in our studio for us to say “she” as much as “he” when talking about a composer.
www.violinmusicbywomen.com

 

MGeske: What are some unique things you do when you teach?

CAllen: I’m willing to go to some rather extreme lengths to ensure that my students are learning in the best way possible! For the younger ones, I have them write words to all their pieces and sing them before we ever start to learn them on the violin. I have all my students do rhythm exercises that involve clapping a rhythm, marching the beat, and counting the rhythm out loud. I frequently use references to Star Wars and Harry Potter in lessons to help with everything from having a relaxed bow hand to varying musical characters in their pieces. When it comes to performance preparation, I have them do things like play their pieces with their eyes closed, standing on one foot and holding their bow upside down (not all at the same time!), so that simply standing in front of an audience and playing their piece is easy.
www.claireallenviolin.com/blog/music-words

 

MGeske: Do you have any pets?

CAllen: One of my primary life goals is to have a Maine Coon cat named Chewie. #TeamCat

 

CHECK OUT MS. ALLEN’S RECITAL EVENT – SUNDAY, FEB 19TH

 

READ MS. ALLEN’S BIO