Tuition*
With Meri Dolevski-Lewis:
$30/ 30 min lesson
$38/ 45 min lesson
$50/ 60 min lesson
One-off lessons or for 1-4 lessons for those visiting or just want to try us out for one lesson before committing with Meri: $75
With Derrick Lewis:
$42/30 min lesson
$57/ 45 min lesson
$84/ 60 min lesson
One-off lessons with Derrick: $90
Rates reflect the average travel time it takes to get to most students, there is no longer an additional travel fee. No studio location presently available.
If lesson fees are a concern for you, please take a look at our scholarship program, especially if the student is at a mid-intermediate (Level 5 RCM for piano, Level 6 for clarinet) or higher to see if you may qualify. We may also be able to refer you one of our advanced students to teach the student if fees or availability of lesson slots are problematic; we currently have two clarinet alumni who are able to take students, depending on your location; one is in East York close to North York, and the other lives in Peel Region, who may be able to take the student. We will send you their contact information privately.
Students or families who receive Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program or earn 15% or less above the poverty line for Toronto based on family size will receive a significant reduction in tuition. If you qualify, be prepared to show your most recent statement from the program and/or your most recent tax return. High school and college/university students paying for lessons on their own AND family is UNABLE or UNWILLING to pay for private lessons may also qualify; again, be prepared to show your most recent tax return or, if a return has not been filed, 3 months of pay stubs from ALL sources of income. Under no other circumstances will fee reductions be considered. However, students must show good practice habits, make good progress, and miss lessons 3 or fewer times in any six month period to continue receiving fee reductions.
Where does your tuition go in this studio?
Studio tuition helps pay for yours or your child's quality musical education. Much of it is used to make the studio an even better experience. Tuition helps pay for recitals, repairs and maitanence of instruments, incentive programs, scholarships for students in financial need, updates to repertoire, new recordings, software related to student learning, CD and DVD production (such as the DVDs made from student recitals), printing costs of programs, ads, and studio brochures, and a lot more.
In addition, this studio helps provide food at two different food banks, one in East York and one in North York to feed families in need, which we make a monthly donation to each of the two food banks we support of at least $25 per food bank of food, and much more whenever possible. Some of our students use the food bank to help them be able to afford the cost of lessons with us.
Unlike a lot of music studios, which charge a flat monthly fee no matter how many lessons occur in a particular month, we usually charge in blocks of 4 lessons which may not happen in four consecutive weeks, depending on teacher and student availability, particularly when the teachers have busy rehearsal or performance schedules (since performing music, not teaching music lessons, is the main source of income for us, though we take teaching seriously), or during times when colds and other illnesses seem to be rampant, we charge a per-lesson fee. We also are pretty flexible with rescheduled lessons (some music studios have a "no makeup or rescheduled lessons" policy in place, which we feel is not fair to students and families) especially if we are informed about them in advance, as we understand that students and parents have lives beyond their music lessons with us. In other words, we offer students and parents flexibility as we need it ourselves! HOWEVER, many independent music studios charge a set monthly fee and offer little to no flexibility in rescheduling lessons students and parents are not available for, which means with most other studios, you lose the money on lessons you do not take.
Note: 30 min lessons are only available to students 7 and under who have not reached RCM Level 1.
Lessons in the student's home are no longer available unless the student is within a short walk of the teacher's home due to medical conditions of the teachers.
First FULL month's tuition is due upon enrollment in lessons (so your first payment will be for 4 lessons per student). If you decide you only want to try one lesson with us, you are required to pay the one-off lesson fee of $75 with Meri or $90 with Derrick with a lesson that will last between 60 and 90 minutes.
All lesson fees are paid 4 lessons at a time per student, on the last lesson taught of that cycle. Multiple students in the same family receive a 15% discount off monthly tuition fees. In addition, tuition for January is due the last lesson of December.
Short-term courses of lessons (1-4 lessons) are available, at $75/h with Meri or $95/h with Derrick, and lessons must be a minimum of 1 hour in length per lesson. Students in short-term courses are not eligible for the student concerts and incentive programs.
Tuition does not include the cost of materials (which is a seperate materials fee at this studio, $100 for the first student and $80 per additional student, per year), exams, auditions, or competitions, which are the responsibility of the student or parent.
$30/ 30 min lesson
$38/ 45 min lesson
$50/ 60 min lesson
One-off lessons or for 1-4 lessons for those visiting or just want to try us out for one lesson before committing with Meri: $75
With Derrick Lewis:
$42/30 min lesson
$57/ 45 min lesson
$84/ 60 min lesson
One-off lessons with Derrick: $90
Rates reflect the average travel time it takes to get to most students, there is no longer an additional travel fee. No studio location presently available.
If lesson fees are a concern for you, please take a look at our scholarship program, especially if the student is at a mid-intermediate (Level 5 RCM for piano, Level 6 for clarinet) or higher to see if you may qualify. We may also be able to refer you one of our advanced students to teach the student if fees or availability of lesson slots are problematic; we currently have two clarinet alumni who are able to take students, depending on your location; one is in East York close to North York, and the other lives in Peel Region, who may be able to take the student. We will send you their contact information privately.
Students or families who receive Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program or earn 15% or less above the poverty line for Toronto based on family size will receive a significant reduction in tuition. If you qualify, be prepared to show your most recent statement from the program and/or your most recent tax return. High school and college/university students paying for lessons on their own AND family is UNABLE or UNWILLING to pay for private lessons may also qualify; again, be prepared to show your most recent tax return or, if a return has not been filed, 3 months of pay stubs from ALL sources of income. Under no other circumstances will fee reductions be considered. However, students must show good practice habits, make good progress, and miss lessons 3 or fewer times in any six month period to continue receiving fee reductions.
Where does your tuition go in this studio?
Studio tuition helps pay for yours or your child's quality musical education. Much of it is used to make the studio an even better experience. Tuition helps pay for recitals, repairs and maitanence of instruments, incentive programs, scholarships for students in financial need, updates to repertoire, new recordings, software related to student learning, CD and DVD production (such as the DVDs made from student recitals), printing costs of programs, ads, and studio brochures, and a lot more.
In addition, this studio helps provide food at two different food banks, one in East York and one in North York to feed families in need, which we make a monthly donation to each of the two food banks we support of at least $25 per food bank of food, and much more whenever possible. Some of our students use the food bank to help them be able to afford the cost of lessons with us.
Unlike a lot of music studios, which charge a flat monthly fee no matter how many lessons occur in a particular month, we usually charge in blocks of 4 lessons which may not happen in four consecutive weeks, depending on teacher and student availability, particularly when the teachers have busy rehearsal or performance schedules (since performing music, not teaching music lessons, is the main source of income for us, though we take teaching seriously), or during times when colds and other illnesses seem to be rampant, we charge a per-lesson fee. We also are pretty flexible with rescheduled lessons (some music studios have a "no makeup or rescheduled lessons" policy in place, which we feel is not fair to students and families) especially if we are informed about them in advance, as we understand that students and parents have lives beyond their music lessons with us. In other words, we offer students and parents flexibility as we need it ourselves! HOWEVER, many independent music studios charge a set monthly fee and offer little to no flexibility in rescheduling lessons students and parents are not available for, which means with most other studios, you lose the money on lessons you do not take.
Note: 30 min lessons are only available to students 7 and under who have not reached RCM Level 1.
Lessons in the student's home are no longer available unless the student is within a short walk of the teacher's home due to medical conditions of the teachers.
First FULL month's tuition is due upon enrollment in lessons (so your first payment will be for 4 lessons per student). If you decide you only want to try one lesson with us, you are required to pay the one-off lesson fee of $75 with Meri or $90 with Derrick with a lesson that will last between 60 and 90 minutes.
All lesson fees are paid 4 lessons at a time per student, on the last lesson taught of that cycle. Multiple students in the same family receive a 15% discount off monthly tuition fees. In addition, tuition for January is due the last lesson of December.
Short-term courses of lessons (1-4 lessons) are available, at $75/h with Meri or $95/h with Derrick, and lessons must be a minimum of 1 hour in length per lesson. Students in short-term courses are not eligible for the student concerts and incentive programs.
Tuition does not include the cost of materials (which is a seperate materials fee at this studio, $100 for the first student and $80 per additional student, per year), exams, auditions, or competitions, which are the responsibility of the student or parent.