YOLO Spotlight - Jia-Min Rosendale of 88 Keys Academy!
If you have noticed changes at Main Street Music at 527 Main Street in downtown Woodland, it’s because it has changed! Jia-Min Rosendale, a licensed Kindermusik educator and long time piano instructor in the Woodland community, took over the space on Main Street last year and has kept it going throughout the pandemic.
Originally from Ceres, California, Jia-Min attended UCDavis, majoring in psychology with a minor in human development. She ended up marrying a local and had five kids pretty quickly. Jia-Min has played the piano since she was eight years old, took a music hiatus during college, then began again by playing for the Davis Musical Theater Company when her oldest started in theater.
While starting a business during the pandemic year has not been easy, a combination of zoom and in person classes has helped at making it a success. Jia-Min says that for some kids, music lessons became the only outside activity they had last year. A strict COVID safety protocol kept everyone safe and it is refreshing that beautiful music was able to be made when we all needed some joy in our lives. Jia-Min has additional instructors that teach other instruments such as percussion, flute, clarinet, guitar, and many others.
FUN FACT #1
Jia-Min’s first gig at DMTC was with director Jason Hammond in a production of Hairspray, and she ended up following him to the Woodland Opera House, becoming a fixture at WOH and eventually also moving to Woodland. She will soon be in charge of the elementary and music band program at Woodland Christian School. She strongly believes that, rather than creating pianists, she is helping create the musicians of the future. It has been shown that reading music can help students with school by using the parts of the brain involved in languages and math skills, and can also teach perseverance and self-discipline. Playing an instrument can be therapeutic for some, aiding in needed therapy for hands and the brain. All of her teachers are highly qualified, musically educated, working professionals.
FUN FACT #2
Jia-Min is a recovering over-commiter and has learned to let go and choose what is best for her family and herself. Her response to being raised by very strict parents was to take control of everything she could. As she learned by trying different things and making mistakes along the way, she also realized that maintaining a balance became more and more important to her. COVID19 helped reset her priorities, as did her children getting older. All of her kids are still at home (ages 11 through 20) and as the management aspect of her business is becoming bigger, the chauffeuring and home management has not decreased.
FUN FACT #3
While Jia-Min says her household is very chill, she still has the need to hide out in the bathroom once in a while to get away from it all. Because she home schooled for a long time, her kids are already pretty good about boundaries and she can be honest with them about her needs and they are great at cooperating. She feels her family is a solid team and the children are pleasantly helpful. She loves taking vacations with the family and finds real joy in all of them just hanging out and doing simple things.
WHAT IS GOING ON AT 88 KEYS ACADEMY?
1. COVID19 has changed how you teach. The student/teacher relationship is even more important now. Your student may not have been seeing many other people this past year and she changed her teaching style to include just chatting for the first few minutes of each lesson to check in and help each of them remember how to interact with others and make sure all are coping well. Jia-Min is excited that 88 Keys Academy will be one year old this July. And, just a news flash, the old piano will be appearing outside the business once again on June 15th!
2. Jia-Min envisions that five years from now she will still have love and heart for the arts and will be bringing the beauty that is music to people’s lives, especially children. Music was always an outlet for her and she believes it is for kids today as well. Her band teacher was almost a second father to her and taught her about teamwork and social skills, concepts that never go out of style. The pandemic has taught her to appreciate the fluidity of life.
3. For the curious, Kindermusik is a method of early childhood education for music and movement and is widely recognized internationally. The classes involve singing, games, movement to music and listening activities from birth through seven years.
In the future? Jia-Min would love to be the music hub of Woodland. She sees inviting local artists to have rehearsals and recitals in her space, host dinners and buskers in front of the school, offer workshops, and so much more. And yes, all of this would be a very cool addition to downtown Main Street, right?