Yevgeniya Lepskaya, who runs a school of music in Park Ridge, talks about the impact of music to her life.
Q: What's new at Yevgeniya Lepskaya’s School of Music?
A: Recently, we have added another studio at the School of Music to accommodate the inflow of new students. This allowed us to add another piano instructor to our staff. We are currently offering multiple lessons times on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.
Q: How do you balance, if at all, the need to carry out traditions with competing with similar type of businesses?
A: The key to a successful teaching process is being original. I’m not concerned with competing with other businesses that provide music lessons. I firmly believe in my ability to be the best at what I do. There is a lot more to teaching a student how to play a piano, violin, guitar, etc. Music doesn’t exist in a vacuum, in isolation from other fine arts and the historical events of the era during which it was created. Comprehensive music education, which we offer at Yevgeniya Lepskaya’s School of Music, allows us to teach our students how to understand what each particular piece means and represents. This enhances the students’ performance and increases their knowledge and understanding of music history and history in general.
Q: What do you think separates Yevgeniya Lepskaya’s School of Music from similar type of businesses?
A: Our piano and violin instructors have Master’s degrees in piano, violin, and viola performance and pedagogy, and our guitar instructor has a Bachelor’s degree in guitar performance and pedagogy. All of our instructors have dedicated their entire lives to studying and teaching classical music to both children and adults. This level of dedication and expertise is rare among music instructors, and if nothing else, this fact alone ensures that the work we do with our students is unique and is at the highest level of quality.
Q: How has music impacted your life?
A: Music has been a part of my life since I can remember. No matter what challenges I have experienced in my life, I can always count on conquering them by relying on my knowledge of musical history and the lives of classical composers. I have studied music history in depth and have read a great deal about the lives of different classical composers. My favorite composer is Beethoven. One of the main reasons I love Beethoven so much is because, like so many other classical composers, he suffered a great deal from a variety of severe health problems during his life. However, that didn’t stop him from creating the most amazing compositions in the history of classical music. Beethoven began losing his hearing at the age of 26, losing 60 percent of his hearing by the age of 31. At the age of 32, Beethoven considered committing suicide, however, he overcame this crisis by making a resolution to survive and persevere. Whenever I experience life’s challenges, I think of Beethoven, I play Beethoven, and through his music, I find the strength to move on.
Q: What does it mean to you being able to share your love of music with the community?
A: Music is a universal language that breaks all barriers. No matter what age, race, or creed you are, music speaks to all. It elevates us to a higher plane of ideals of beauty, justice, and peace. It is extremely important to teach our children, which I’m privileged to do here in the city of Park Ridge, the love and the profound understanding of music. Teaching children how to make music and bring joy to themselves and those around them is at the center of my life and the lives of our school’s instructors.
Q: How do you envision the future of Yevgeniya Lepskaya’sSchool of Music?
A: I believe that the future of Yevgeniya Lepskaya’s School of Music is bright. We will continue growing our student body and keep excelling at the quality of instruction we provide.