September is always a favourite here in the Sweet Symphony Studio. It signals the end of the summer holidays and a return to normality! Everyone’s back in their regular lesson spaces (well, kind of – read on to see what I mean!) and we get to catch our breath (a little). Plus, there’s the added advantage of knowing Autumn is just around the corner – our favourite season, with pumpkin-spice lattes, falling leaves, crisp frosty mornings and some fab holidays coming up!
This time of year is always really busy for us. As children go back to school, thoughts turn to organising new after-school activities. Even among our exisiting Students, there’s a lot of reshuffling going on due to changes in other activities elsewhere – September is super-busy!
We’ve Launched A Newsletter!
1st September saw the launch of our new “Key Notes” newsletter. This will be sent out every 3 weeks and will be full of Studio goings-on, details of new Teachers/lessons, and handy hints and tips to get the most out of your music lessons. If you haven’t signed up for this yet, you can do so here.
New Month, New Faces!
All through August, we’ve been busy looking at our lesson availability and seeing what we could do to offer more lessons more often. Most of our Teachers’ timetables are pretty much full to bursting, so there aren’t many available spaces to offer new enquiries. Don’t get us wrong – this is a great problem to have, but it’s so frustrating when we get an enquiry that we’re not able to accommodate due.
And so, after a lot of interviews and some big decisions, we can now reveal THREE brand new Teachers who we’re welcoming to Sweet Symphony: Mark, Patrick and Brione. Here’s a quick who’s-who of our new faces:
Mark Leadbeater
Mark is the music lead at Thornhill Academy in Sunderland. He’s been teaching Secondary Music for over 25 years. He has experience teaching Students of all ages as well as children with SEND. He has a teaching diploma in Flute, but can also teach Saxophone and Piano. Mark is starting out with us on a Friday evening from a few weeks’ time, but his timetable is already pretty full, so he’ll be adding another day very soon!
Patrick Reay
Patrick started playing Guitar 24 years ago as a teenager. He holds a BMus from Newcastle University as well as a PGCE in Education. In addition to teaching privately, Patrick teaches in primary and secondary schools around the region. Patrick is coming onboard as a Guitar & Ukulele Teacher, and will be available for lessons on a Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.
Brione Jackson
Brione comes to us with a BMus from the University of Chichester. She previously worked as a peripatetic music teacher for West Sussex Music Service, but has also lots of experience performing – playing with Sheffield Philharmonic and Rotherham Symphony. She is currently studying a 2-year MMT (Master of Music Therapy) course in Newcastle, and so is teaching part-time around her studies. Cello is her first love, but she can also teach Singing, Viola, Violin and Double Bass. Talented! Brione can be found teaching in the Studio on a Friday evening as well as a Saturday morning.
If you’d like to sign up for lessons with any of these Teachers, you can book online using their personal booking pages:
Mark – https://sweetsymphony.setmore/mark
Patrick – https://sweetsymphony.setmore.com/patrick
Brione – https://sweetsymphony.setmore.com/brione
Dates For Your Diary – September
As part of our regular newsletter offerings, we’ll be sharing infographics showing some of the key Studio dates that month. This includes any Studio holidays, exam dates and other notable dates such as Composer birthdays and national instrument days! Here’s September’s dates to watch out for:
If you’d like to stay in the loop with all of our Studio news and benefit from regular hints, tips and special offers, sign up to our new Newsletter!
As always, if you need to get in touch with us, you can contact our Admin Team. They’re available Monday-Friday 10:30-20:00 and Saturday 9:30-4:00. You can drop an email to studio@sweetsymphony.co.uk or give us a call on 0191 908 8441.
Louise x