Why “Pay-What-You-Can?”
Why on earth…
When I began teaching, I committed to always maintaining a pay-what-you-can model for at least one class (our group Irish fiddle class) because I would not - I could not - have the musical opportunities I have had were it not for the generosity of others. I was not a student who grew up in a family that could afford violin lessons. And yet, I encountered people time and time again who took a chance to support me. They paved the way for me to have access to quality musical instruction. They trusted me to practice, to hone my craft, and to make their investment worthwhile. They challenged me toward growth, always believing that I could build a life in which I could reap the rewards that come with a rich musical education. It is my honor to pay their gift forward by trusting my students to do the same.
The point of pay-what-you-can classes isn’t to find prodigies in the rough, or to insist that these students must therefore become master performers headed off to conservatory, as though this is a debt to repay. Instead, it’s to level the ground so that all students have access to quality musical education, that they can find themselves surrounded by a rich musical community, and that they always know that there is a road that leads back to music-making.
What each student chooses to do with this is up to them! Want to play fiddle at a local Irish session? Great! Want to play on big festival stages with a band? Fantastic! Want to be a person in the crowd someday, appreciating the musicality of that band on the stage because you spent invested time to learn about music as a whole? Wonderful! Prefer to play alone at home as a way to unwind from your super interesting accounting job? Absolutely brilliant. My job and my goal is to ensure that every student has the opportunity to choose for themselves what this could look like.
If you have any questions about our pay-what-you-can Irish fiddle group classes, or about our pay-what-you-can policy, please send me an email at jaclairschoolofmusic@gmail.com
