Registration
Registration is ongoing throughout the year. If you are interested in enrolling, please contact me at (724) 388-1038 or vstipcak@hotmail.com.
Recommended starting ages are 4+ for piano lessons and 12+ for voice lessons.
Actively enrolled students who refer a new student will receive a free lesson. The free lesson is awarded once the new student pays their first monthly tuition. The new student must mention that you referred them when signing up for you to receive a free lesson.
Lesson Rates
Lessons are weekly, thirty minutes each, and $25 each.
Payment
Lesson payments are due by the first lesson of each month. The number of lessons billed is based solely on the number of lessons for your given day in the next month (e.g., If your lesson day is Monday and there are four Mondays in the month, you will be billed for four lessons; if there are five Mondays in the month, you will be billed for five, etc.).
Lessons are pro-rated for new students according to their start date.
Students will not be charged for studio holidays and breaks or anytime I need to be absent. If I must miss unexpectedly due to illness or inclement weather, you will receive a credit toward the next month. Studio holidays and breaks are listed below:
Holidays
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving
- Christmas Eve
- Christmas Day
- New Year’s Eve
- New Year’s Day
- Easter Sunday
- Memorial Day
- July 4th
Breaks
- 12/24/18 to 1/1/19 for Winter Holiday.
- One full week after each recital – one in November and one in June.
- The last Tuesday of August thru the day after Labor Day as school students transition back to school.
If monthly tuition is paid late (up to seven days), a $20 late fee applies. If later than seven days, the lesson spot becomes available to a new student.
I accept cash or check for payment. If you forget to have a check or cash ready, you can also pay over PayPal (look me up via email) or Facebook Messenger. If a returned check is written, you will be charged $20 plus the amount of the check and you will be required to pay for future lessons in cash.
No refunds are issued under any circumstances.
Cancellations and Rescheduling
Consistency and commitment are the keys to developing and mastering any pursuit, including music. Therefore, students are encouraged to attend every lesson in order to advance their skills. If a student must miss a lesson, I ask that you please call or text me a minimum of 24 hours in advance of the lesson day that will be missed whenever possible so that I can adjust my schedule.
I do not makeup lessons cancelled without a 24+ hour notice.
If you have a long-standing commitment on your calendar that conflicts with your lesson time, please tell me when you pay at the beginning of the month and I will do my best to find a spot in my schedule for a makeup lesson during the same month. You are still required to pay for the missed lesson even if a makeup lesson is not available.
Books and Sheet Music
Books are required to take piano lessons. Book prices are $28 for a set for a student ages 4-12; $30 for students ages 13-17; and $20 for students ages 18+. How often you must buy a set of books depends from person to person. You can include payment for books in your payment for monthly tuition.
Voice students are required to have sheet music. If you have a printer that you can use, I will email you the music for you to print. If you need me to print the music for you, I can print it for $1 per song to cover printing supplies. If the music costs money, you can include the cost in your monthly tuition payment.
Summer Lessons
Students are highly encouraged to continue lessons throughout the summer months to maintain their level of proficiency. Students who stop find they are spending a month or two in the fall catching up to where they left off at the start of the summer. Therefore, lessons at my studio continue as regularly scheduled through July and August with an allocation of 2 vacation credits (one per month). Students choosing to stop are required to give a 2-lesson minimum notice.
If you take vacation during another time of the year, you are welcome to use the vacation credits then.
Recitals and Competitions
There are fall and spring recitals annually. The recitals are held at Asbury United Methodist Church (Uniontown) and Johnstonbaugh’s Music Centers (Allison Park). There is no recital fee or admission fee.
There are opportunities for K-12 students to compete in local competitions. I enter students into the Dorothy Sutton Competition each September. If you are interested in entering, please let me know in the January/February before so that we can begin working on theory knowledge and pieces.
Discontinuation of Lessons
A two week notice is required if you wish to discontinue lessons. A refund will not be issued for a student who quits part-way through a month.
No Shows and Contacting Upon Arrival
A student who “no shows” two times will be asked to discontinue lessons without a refund. A “no show” is when the student doesn’t show up for a lesson and fails to contact me beforehand.
If taking lessons at Asbury United Methodist Church in Uniontown, be sure to call or text me when you arrive. Knocking or the doorbell will not be heard in the Wesley Room where I teach. If someone else is bringing the student, give the driver my number so that they can reach me.
If a lesson is missed because you didn’t call or text, I will not refund or makeup the lesson.