The challenge of running a music school is getting the students to practice.
So says Debra Lynn Cook, the managing director of the Utah Conservatory, located at Kimball Junction.
“We strive to make that a priority,” Cook said during an interview just before classes began a couple of weeks ago. “It’s axiomatic that the consistency of the lessons lead toward a successful student.”
Faculty director Aaron Mitchell, who co-owns the conservatory with the Professional Artist Group, said the school also tries to instill that priority in the parents as well.
“Somehow music lessons, in most normal settings, comes second to karate or dance and soccer,” he said. “We treat (practice) like it’s the same level of playing. The students need to be coming every week. We feel that consistency makes our students successful.”
Since 1997, the Utah Conservatory has made music and music lessons available to families in Summit County and the surrounding areas.
Originally located on Park City’s Historic Main Street, the establishment, which started as a music store, moved to its present location 1612 Ute Blvd. in 2002, a few weeks prior to the Olympic Winter Games.
“This was a better location for us,” said Cook, also member of the conservatory’s piano faculty and head of the voice department. “We outgrew our Main Street location and when our lease was up, the building owners wanted to rent out space for the Olympics.”
With approximately 4,000 square feet, the Utah Conservatory’s new location houses two piano rooms, a chamber room, seven vocal studios with pianos and is adjacent to a music store that is also owned by Cook and her husband conservatory founder/executive director Dr. Frederic William Cook.
“Having the music store close by is convenient for the students and teachers who may need to pick up an instrument, on-the-fly, for a lesson,” Debra Cook said.
While lessons are the main benefits the conservatory has to offer, the school’s goals reach beyond merely learning notes and time signatures.
“We’re trying to build healthier people,” Cook said. “Music is something that contributes to mental and physical well being. It creates people who have an understanding and a viewpoint about their lives and their society.
“We have a vocational mission for students who are seeking a college and professional career,” she said. “Every student who has graduated the conservatory in the past has been able to get into a college of their choice. Our goal is to have students understand what professionalism is, should they choose to continue into the professional world of music.”
Cook, who has performed with the Utah Opera, the National Choral Society and the Utah Symphony, said the school also tries to dispel the myth of the starving music-degree holder.
“Parents worry that having a music degree isn’t going to let their child make money,” she said. “One of the things we tell them is 66 percent of music majors who apply are accepted into medical school and law school. It’s because of the skills problem solving and discipline they are able to implement.
“Also the music industry is one of the largest industries there is, and there are so many career paths from which to choose.”
Not only does the conservatory offer lessons for voice, piano and guitar, but also violin, viola, cello, bass guitar, drums, clarinet, flute, trumpet, trombone, tuba, saxophone, dulcimer, acting and more.
It even has a joint venture with the School of Rock and the Imagination Place’s Music Together program.
“The only thing we don’t offer right now is (double) bass,” Mitchell said. And with a smile he added: “Teachers need to apply.”
Lessons are offered individually in timetables of 30, 45 and 60 minutes. Lessons can also be taken in monthly packages. Individual lessons range from $30 to $100 and the monthly lesson packages range from $96 to $398.
There are also ongoing five-month group courses, including music theory, professional track performances for adult and children singers/actors and group voice lessons for adults and children that range from $249 to $449.
The conservatory selects teachers who have the credentials, but also who help the students have fun while learning music, Mitchell said.
“We want up-beat people,” he said. “We don’t like to hire anyone who embody the old adage of ‘piano teachers with rulers.'”
“We do not tolerate the invalidation of the student,” Cook emphasized. “And we don’t allow profanity. Those are two reasons for dismissal.
“If it’s not fun, it’s not right. We find teachers who figure out how to make it fun.”
Mitchell, a former guest artist with the San Juan Capistrano Symphony, said there are 22 faculty members at the Utah Conservatory, and all are here for the benefit of the student,
“There are a lot of joint-teaching ventures,” he said. “If a classical guitarist wants to continue his or her studies in rock-guitar, then they are able to go to another teacher within the school to develop those skills.”
Also, the school holds faculty training sessions as well, said Cook. “For example, our piano and vocal department faculty meet for pedagogy sessions.”
The fall semester started Aug. 23, and so far there are 300 students enrolled.
” November and December, we usually have 350 to 400 students total,” Mitchell said. “So there is still time to enroll.”
The student ages range from 4 years old to 75, said Cook.
“Seventy percent of our students are school-aged,” she said. “But we have a good number of adult students.”
Three times a year, the conservatory holds recitals.
“We have to do 8 to 10 performances to get all the students through,” Mitchell said. “We do them in tightly-timed, 50-minute segments and start them on the hour.”
And if a student wants to do a special project such as a private recital, the conservatory faculty is there to help, said Cook.
“Sometimes they want to do small recitals for families in our studios, or even private ones for relatives at home,” she said. “We do all we can to facilitate them.
“There’s nothing that compares to seeing the joy music brings to families,” she said. “They can see how it heals. And it creates the ability to express themselves.”
The Utah Conservatory, 1612 Ute Blvd., Suite 207
Email: utahconservatory@gmail.com
Phone: 435-649-6292