Collings School Of Fine Arts

Lessons Offered

Where are Lessons Offered

About Me

I have played the piano since age 10; pipe organist in churches for over 20 years; accompanied choirs, groups, singers, men’s quartets, etc; directed adult choirs for 22 years; taught public school choir and general music for over 25 years and in private schools and colleges for 6 years; taught private piano lessons every year since 1954, also organ and voice and the other areas listed above; have written, composed, directed, produced and accompanied over 67 scripts and over 500 songs for major musical and non-musical plays and melodramas; put on productions with choirs, small groups, dramatic shows in churches, senior residences, nursing homes ,malls, banks, country clubs, for weddings, VFW's, funerals, banquets and other events; wrote an original research paper on music therapy; was a member of the MMTA for many years and was asked to be on the board as organ chairman which I did for 10 years. I run the business part of the Collings School as well as teach and do the dramas. We always welcome new teachers to join us. We have a highly equipt theatre where we give our regular recitals as well as senior and formal recitals. We have put many of them on community TV. The school has been in business since 1973, then we built our own facility in 1976 in a beautiful wooded area next to the Palmer Lake Wildlife Reserve. My husband Lloyd and I were inducted into the Brooklyn Historical Society’s Hall of Fame in 2008.

My Musical Education Background

I have a BA in music, major in piano performance with additional classes toward a BS in music education, an MA in music education, and an MM in music theory. My MA also includes several classes in music composition and choral conducting toward a doctoral level with an A average. I also researched from the ground up a three-credit paper on music therapy when there was very little on the subject in the university library. Along with these courses I studied pipe organ for several years.

Genres and Subjects Taught

I have taught piano, organ, voice, general music predominently but also the other areas listed above. We offer a variety of lessons at our school and they change from time to time as instructors join us.
Call Barbara at 763-561-403, c(contact me) or (contact me)

Lesson Rates

Lesson fees are presently at $18 per half-hour which is on the low side in this area. Depending on the status of the economy we may raise them to $20 in the fall of 2013. The reason we can keep our prices low is because we do not have a high overhead.

Ages / Skill Levels Taught

We are adding a teen choir (voluntary..no fees) to our vocal program this spring which is designed for home-schooled young people, ages 13-18. It is also open to students who can't fit choir into their schedules in public school. Call Barbara at (contact me) or (contact me). Piano lessons start at age 7 through adult, voice 7 through adult, organ depends on piano background and other lessons depend on the student. Physical attributes must be considered when beginning lessons on wind instruments.

My Certifications and Awards

I have a life-time certificate for public school teaching in music for grades k-12 for any kind of music, choir, band or orchestra. I was also certified for many years with the MMTA in piano and organ. I was on the board of the MMTA as organ chairman for 10 years. I have received certificates from some of my private school teaching.

My Musical Influences

Who has influenced me? The organist of my church and my college piano teacher along with my college choir director and a well-known choral director who I accompanied for 4 years. Who have I influenced? It's hard to know how many lives I have influenced especially when there have been thousands over the years in the different classes and private lessons. I had a piano & organ student who became a music teacher in a high school and dedicated his first vocal composition to me. A girl I had in my junior high choir for 3 years now holds the position that I had as her teacher. I have piano students that still call me after years of lessons and come to see me...some send me cards of appreciation for what they learned. I hope I have made a quality difference in other students' lives as well.

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