Hi Everyone -
As school is starting back up, the schedule, studio locations, etc. are steadily getting back to normal... well "normal". I wanted to get in touch with all of my students (present, past, and lapsed) to check-in and update you guys on the studio for the year.
For anyone wondering about the Online Studio, here's a two-minute studio tour. Yes, in-person is returning, but I know there are quite a few of you that are intending on keeping the lessons online.
Some of these changes were supposed to go into effect in 2020, but obviously we were all scrambling and doing whatever worked. This is the first time I'll be trying some of these things, so please feel free to reach out with any suggestions or feedback as I do want to know how this is going to affect everyone.
Covid Policy: I wanted to put this one upfront because I know this may be the more difficult of the changes listed here. For a number of reasons:
the fact that I teach children younger than 12...
the fact that we're in a small studio with wind instruments...
the fact that I typically come into contact with 40-50 of my private students every week, go into schools for sectionals, and travel across the region and sometimes the country for gigs...
the fact that I personally think this is the ethical and medically efficacious thing to do to protect one another...
If you are interested in in-person lessons, you will be required to be vaccinated and show proof of that vaccination. Please keep in mind, this doesn't require you to get vaccinated (although I personally think you should get vaccinated as soon as possible), it requires you to be vaccinated if you want to take in-person lessons with me.
That being said, please reach out to me if you have questions, comments, or concerns. I know this is contentious topic for some and I know everyone has their own medical history that they may or may not be comfortable sharing. If this is a problem, I would ask you to consider one thing in your deliberations: I was on a trio gig recently with a beloved musician in the Atlanta area. That musician is in remission from cancer and, to my knowledge, can't currently get vaccinated due to their immunocompromised status (although they would very much like to). They make their living making music and teaching. I want to do what I can to protect him and those like him. I have people in my life that are immunocompromised and I don't want anything bad to happen to them if I can help it. Especially if the preventative measure is simply a no-cost 20 minutes at a CVS or vaccination site.
I ask that everyone please be flexible with the schedule and/or locations and understand that this may change due to the state of things. It is possible that lessons could move back to online temporarily if things take a turn for the worse. As many of you know, this email is late going out because of a possible covid scare a few weeks ago. I want everyone to understand that the health and safety of my students is a top priority and I would never want to put any of you at risk.
Studio Locations: Anyone who wants to continue doing their lessons online should feel absolutely free to do so. Obviously the schedule will be easier for many of you keeping the lessons online. The in-person locations are the same as before, *although masked*. Please let me know if these locations and day combinations are difficult to make work and I can see what I can do about making the schedule work for everyone.
Home Studio – Johns Creek/Duluth (Wednesday, Sunday)
504 Champions Pt.
Duluth, GA 30097
Jackson’s Music – Buford (Tuesday, Thursday)
1651 Horizon Pkwy
Buford, GA 30518
Lesson Rates: Same as before. $30/half-hour, $60/hour
Online Payments: You can now pay pretty much anyway you want. I still accept check and cash, but now I accept all major credit cards, CashApp, Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, AND you can even make those payments via any of those on the Lessons page on my website.
Ability to Do Flat-rate: Some of you have wanted the ability to put lessons on auto-pay. Just let me know if you'd like to start and I can walk you through the rate and we can set you up for that. I've worked it out where if anyone needs to add or subtract individual lessons for any reason, we can easily do so.
Make-up Only System, But Just 24-Hours Notice
I'm moving away from doing cancellations to a make-up only system. Those of you that have continued lessons through 2020 can attest to this system already and I do want everyone to know that I will do everything I can to work with all of you. I know it's still a difficult time and not everything always goes as planned. Anytime you can't make a particular lesson, we can do a make-up in-person or online for up to 6 weeks after the original date. As many of you have experienced, the make-up policy has been relatively lax over 20 and 21. I want to get back on a regular guideline and to be accommodating to everyone's schedule, I'm changing the notice back to just 24 hours which I believe will still give time to the other affected students who may need a schedule change.
On My End & Some New Announcements
One thing I want to do is try to let you guys know of my performance dates and scheduling conflicts as early as possible and I'm going to shoot for the beginning of each month. With my performance calendar, sometimes things do come up days or even hours in advance, BUT, I want to try to make your lives as easy possible so be on the lookout for e-mails at the beginning of the month about scheduling. That should hopefully make each month run smoothly.
Some cool announcements on my end: I've been asked to start as a private saxophone/clarinet instructor at the Lovett School. I'm now an instructor for their Conservatory program so there'll be an incredible faculty picture of me on the internet soon. Joy. I've also been brought on as an Assistant Director for the Atlanta Freedom Bands. This will be during the day and shouldn't effect any of our scheduling, I just wanted to share.
September 1st
All of these changes will go into effect September 1, 2021. Hopefully that gives us the month of August to talk, work out any kinks, and find a way to make everything as easy for everyone. I know things are looking precarious again and I certainly hope we can get back to "normal" sometime soon. I mean it when I say I want to hear from you guys. Any problems, concerns, questions, please just let me know.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read this over and here's to a hopefully wonderful school year. I'm already exhausted.
Regards,
William Hollifield
Saxophones, Clarinets, Flutes
Composer & Arranger
William@WilliamHollifield.com
Mobile: (770) 842-0614
www.WilliamHollifield.com
