You Can’t Stop the Beat at the Thurnauer School of Music! [dedicated]

We all know a drummer who’s always tapping a beat, a horn player who repeatedly hums bits of their latest piece, or a piano player who quickly dances their fingers across any surface, imagining they are playing the keys. Once music has entered the mind and the soul, it never leaves, and that’s the magic. Which is why it's such great news that the Thurnauer School of Music at Kaplen JCC on the Palisades  opened its (primarily virtual) doors for the Fall 2020 Semester! Classes began on Monday, October 5^th and registration is ongoing, so there’s no need to wait to start your kids’ lifelong musical journey.

Thurnauer’s top-notch educators’ vast knowledge and passion for music education ignites the love of music in their students, whether they’re virtual or in-person. When rising to the challenge of going virtual, the Thurnauer faculty discovered that remote learning has its own unique benefits. Lessons can be easily recorded and used in practice sessions. Thurnauer’s youngest musicians are learning to self-correct finger positions and tune their own instruments. Voice students are creating mash-up videos with their ensembles—just one of many chances for bragging rights. According to Early Childhood director Emma Brondolo, “in our signature Muskigarten classes for children ages 3-7, we’ve found that our virtual classes continue to give children the same feelings of connection and joy. We sing songs, move to music, play musical games together, and listen to exciting musical stories.” And who couldn’t use a huge dose of that kind of fun right about now?

Some families are eager to get back to their in-person learning and Thurnauer has safely and excitedly pivoted to meet their needs as well. Aaron Alur, age 6, a Thurnauer student for the past 3 years has returned to the JCC. "We’re so happy to be back to this amazing music school!” his mother, Rebecca Soans Alur told Bergen Mama. “Besides the gift of music, the kids are also getting some sense of NORMAL. The entire school has worked so hard to make my son and me feel safe and worry-free during today's class. The icing on top? There was a person ready at the door to sanitize the room the minute the class was over.” Soans Alur says she “wouldn’t have felt better anywhere else—Thurnauer is truly a wonderful place.”

In addition to their numerous options of virtual, on-campus in-person, and hybrid music and voice lessons, this fall they’ve also introduced tons of super-fun new classes for young kids! There’s Family Sing-Along!, Ukulele Strummers, and several of Musikgarten’s trademark, highly-successful early childhood music classes. Thurnauer’s also created the timely and invaluable Music for Families Who Homeschool, a program in which a member of their faculty provides virtual or in-person music instruction to your homeschooling children or pod. Looking for a more social afterschool option? Semi-Private Lessons are the perfect way for kids to hang out with their pod buddies while learning a new skill—and the hefty discount doesn’t hurt either.

To get a firsthand taste of Thurnauer’s early childhood classes, get your kiddos bathed and in jammies early on Wednesday, October 21^st. Emma Brondolo will lead the virtual “Bedtime Sing-Along with the Thurnauer School of Music” as a free Facebook Live event. They’ll start off getting their sillies out and wind down with the deep calm that lullabies provide.

For more information, or to register for one of their dynamic, forward-thinking classes, please visit the Thurnauer School of Music website. Or contact Emma Brondolo, Early Childhood Director at ebrondolo@jccotp.org.