As an academy, our faculty and staff are not just co-workers or partners in our non-profit; we are friends. This is significant to us because we believe we will serve you and the community better because we enjoy the company of our friends, we enjoy mutual accountability, and we challenge each other to be the best we can be.

And because we believe music and art to be uniquely special and a meaningful part of life, we want to share these things with our friends. Some of our most meaningful relationships are with people we share our passions with, and we hope the same will be true with our students, so we want that to start with our faculty and staff.

At TIA, we don’t just have faculty or staff meetings, although we do meet and discuss important logistical matters. But we have regular meals and gatherings in our homes, just to be with our friends, share stories, struggles. We discuss new things we are learning about music and teaching, or needs we have become aware of within the community that we can serve; and what is working well or what isn’t. We also spend time talking about what it means to be a musician or artist, and what some of our unique responsibilities may be in these areas relating to the meaning of music and art, what we do with it, how we can serve the community better, develop music and art that serves a purpose, etc. We believe these matters are not just trivial or secondary, but where music and art often make the most difference. That is what we are all about: being an academy where the arts matter and make a difference.

Oh, and by the way, all of our academy friends, families, and students are welcome to these gatherings. If you would ever like to join us, just let us know.