Charlotte Music School owners Dr. Mark and Amanda Norman are music lovers at heart, with an unparalleled passion for sharing their affection for and dedication to music with students of all ages. While they both have vast experience in the music industry – Mark has traveled all over the world as a professional tuba player and was even a member of the United States Navy Band in Washington, D.C. – what truly makes CMS so exceptional is Mark and Amanda's dedication to their students.
Mark explains that the mission of CMS is to always do what's right for their students. He says, "Every single decision I or a faculty member makes [at CMS] is done with our students in mind. When we're teaching a private lesson, we're always thinking about what is right for that particular student and what is going to help them grow as a musician and an individual. We know that we're not just teaching music lessons; we're teaching intellect and discipline."
Undoubtedly, this philosophy is what has made CMS so successful at crafting stellar musicians and so reputable within the Charlotte community. They currently have 11 instructors that offer private lessons in piano, guitar, vocals, percussion, woodwind, brass and string instruments. CMS also offers music theory classes, which provide knowledge about notation, music history, major and minor scales, tempo markings and more. While all of their lessons are typically held in person, they have all been shifted to virtual due to COVID-19. Mark says that the shift has been challenging, but that there have been a lot of great things to come out of it as well.
"Now that we do everything virtually via Zoom, we can teach anyone from anywhere," Mark says. "We have students that are located all over the U.S., and it has been great to see us grow to a national level."
Mark also explains that being able to record a student during their private lesson is another great benefit of going virtual. He describes, "Each student can replay their lesson after it has ended to see what they did that worked for them and improve things that didn't. By seeing and hearing themselves, it gives them a whole new way to learn and improve."
In addition to private lessons, CMS ordinarily holds spring and winter recitals as well as smaller recitals put together by each teacher so that students can get a genuine concert experience. However, these have also been shifted to a virtual offering.
"Even though we have shifted to offering everything virtually, we hope to get back to being able to offer in-person classes when it is safe again," Mark says. "However, even when we get back to some sort of 'normal,' we will continue to offer virtual lessons. In addition to the practical recording and playback capabilities, Zoom allows our business to be more flexible with our students and teachers."
Charlotte Music School is located at 10210 Berkeley Place Dr., Suite 150, Charlotte, NC 28262. For more information about their classes call 704.295.7676, email contact@charlottemusicschool.com or visit CharlotteMusicSchool.com.
