We were told recently by a leading Seattle business consultant that we hire well. That’s one of the best compliments we could ever get! We work very hard to ensure that the teachers that are teaching music in our studio and with our Academy, whether in person or virtual, are first of all good people: they’re kind, compassionate, caring, passionate people that love music and people. If they don’t fit that criteria, they never even get to the point to where we’ll hear them play their instrument (s). Secondly, the people we bring on the team must also be capable musicians and know the fundamentals of music very well and be committed to teaching them. They also need to be people who understand our mission, respect it, and will live it out both in the lesson rooms and beyond. And finally, they have to be the kind of people that you’re going to want to hang out with.

We make sure of all this through a very careful process that goes from an initial 15 to 20-minute phone call, to a formal interview, to an audition and interview before some of their would-be peers and team members, and finally a very careful reference check that covers personhood, professionalism, and music.

By the way, this is all by very important design, and its just like the real world of music. Yes, you need to be able to play well and know music well to work as a professional musician. But often times you will get and keep the work you have more because of who you are as a person than how you play. Nobody wants to work with jerk, and nobody wants to take lessons from someone like that either.