KAMA (Keizer Academy of Music and the Arts)

Our very own cello coach Noah Seitz and his pianist wife Sarah Greenleaf have started a new Academy in Keizer - this will be a great resource for those looking for lessons, rehearsal space, and chamber music. Here's the article from the SJ:


statesmanjournal.com

July 8, 2009

Teachers launch music and arts academy

Keizer center will offer classes, private lessons starting in August

By Jillian Daley
Statesman Journal

Two music teachers are raising the curtain on an arts academy in Keizer next month.

Parents can register their children or themselves online for Sara Greenleaf Seitz and Noah Seitz's Keizer Academy of Music & Arts, which will open Aug. 1. The grand opening will be Aug. 15.

A theater arts camp for kids that includes vocal and dance training is coming up next month as well, and classes start in September.

Classes and private lessons are available for all ages and fall into four main groups: music, dance, acting and visual arts.

"We want to make sure that there's quality, convenient, comprehensive arts education in Keizer," Greenleaf Seitz said. "That's our first goal. Our second goal is to integrate all of the arts, so if you have a piano student who wants to switch to guitar, they can easily do that within our school."

The aim of the academy is to complement Salem-Keizer School District's already successful music programs, Greenleaf Seitz said. Some fine arts-loving students just might need a little extra attention. Plus, she said, every community needs a dose of fine arts.

"It brings people together," she said.

What does the academy offer?

-The music classes are: theory/ear training, beginning guitar, preschool music, a children's choir as well as private lessons in piano, oboe, percussion, cello, violin, saxophone, clarinet, flute and voice.

-Acting courses are: acting for children, acting for teens, acting for adults and private acting lessons.

-Dance classes are: ballet classes grouped by age and skill level for ages 5 and older. Plus, 3- and 4-year-olds can take a special creative movement class.

-Visual arts classes are: an in-depth look at photography, collage making and photography basics.

All of the fine arts are forms of expression, Greenleaf Seitz said. And the fine arts afford children — and all people — something special.

"They need a structured way to express themselves," she said.

Costs vary, from $38 for one semester of the creative movement class to $167 a month for private music lessons from a master teacher, according to the Web site.

Scholarships will be available for two winners of an essay contest. A winner can have one year's worth of any class or a year's worth of private lessons — but of only one kind. For example, a winner could get lessons in guitar or acting, not both.

The essay question and instructions on how to apply for a scholarship should be on the academy's Web site this week.

Classes and lessons are just the beginning for the little academy, located on River Road N. Greenleaf Seitz and Seitz plan in the future to get accredited, create a fine arts high school and put on theater productions for the community.

The couple has 18 teachers on board. Two of them were easy to recruit: Greenleaf Seitz and Seitz.

Greenleaf Seitz is an instrumental staff accompanist at Linfield College, where she teaches piano. Piano will be her subject at the academy, too.

Seitz teaches cello at Pacific University in Forest Grove. At the academy, he will teach cello and guitar.

Seitz offered one reason for the couple's opening the academy while still shouldering their regular teaching positions.

"It was just to get out of the house," said the father of two.

Two of the first students at the academy will be the couple's daughters, Clara, 3; and Lilla, 6. Clara will take creative movement.

"I want to take acting and ballet," Lilla said.

Before the academy even has opened, she already is recommending it — and her parents.

"I think they're pretty amazing," she said.

jdaley@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6714
Additional Facts
If you go

What: Open house at Keizer Academy of Music & Arts, 4904 River Road N

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 15

register: www.Keizeracademyofmusic.org or call (503) 569-0043.