It starts with just one note. That’s all it takes, one note to stir the imagination and unleash a path that will teach, challenge and bring forth the most rewarding outcomes one could ever imagine. All from just one note.
Where does it start?
Well, just ten minutes south of the city a new music school has opened up. Mel’s School of Music and Theater lies in the heart of Woodlawn and has all of the tools needed for anyone looking to get their children involved in a musical direction.
Mel Klaja, a Buffalo native, has had music and theater in her blood since day one. After graduating from Frontier High, Mel went on to study and get a degree in Theater Arts at SUNY New Paltz. There she was able to learn all aspects of what music and theater production is all about, everything from stage craft, to costume design, to directing. Upon finishing her studies in New Paltz, Mel decided to try her hand at the big city. She spent eight years in New York City in the hustle of pursuing the arts. She was auditioning, gigging, managing and booking acts and was even nominated for a V.M.A with her band “The Shells.”
But at one point in New York she started working in children’s entertainment. This was a sort of awakening for what would be soon to come. Through this company she worked with children for birthday parties, showing up as different characters, and even delivering Telegrams in character. Her love for working with children came to full bloom when she decided to move back home to Buffalo and start a family of her own.
Back in Buffalo Mel continued her work in the music scene, hosting open mics, participating in multiple area bands and performing solo. But when her daughter was born she realized that teaching the arts is what she really needed to do. “I just want her to be surrounded by it all.”
So Mel started teaching private voice, piano and guitar lessons. But as her student body began to grow quickly and the parents of her students expressed the need for a school that encompasses all areas of music and theater.
On February first of this year Mel opened up her school – an all encompassing music and theater center. She has hired 9 teachers who are all working musicians and professionals in their craft. The school offers private lessons in; voice, piano, guitar, drums, ukulele, horns, violin and bass. And group lessons in; acting, musical theater, song writing, toddler music, glee clubs and adult choir.
The advantage to having all of this under one roof is overlap of skill sets and resources. Mel is able to offer different specialty courses within her school that can cover a larger spectrum than just single instrument lessons. Everything is covered. Sound, set up, performance, stage equipment… all skills that can be learned here.
The school also acts as a practice studio for different area bands and hosts music themed parties.
And this summer there will be a vast array of different camps offered each week.
The school is the perfect resource to trigger a passion in anything concerning performance arts or hone skills that have already been triggered. And as Mel can tell you, you never know where it’s going to take ya!
If you are looking to place your child on any kind of musical path, come check out MEL’s School of Music and Theater and see where that one note might take them.
Attend the Open House on Sunday, April 29, 2018
Contact Mel Klaja | 3270 Lakeshore Rd, Suite 1, | Blasdell, NY 14219 | (716)541-2501 | melsmusicschoolwny.com | Facebook