A note from Sam & Sean
As the world changes around us, we are sitting at our remote desks, trying to wrap our heads around the current and future situation while we work to adapt to the “new normal”. Less than a year ago we were watching our new studio in Gillette grow within the wonderful community there. We watched as kids learned to write and record their own songs, we hosted birthday parties of young and aspiring musicians, we hosted early childhood classes, open mics, and jam sessions of beginners and long-time students alike. We were ecstatic that both Millburn and Gillette studios were on the way to long-term success.
We are a small, locally run business, founded in 2013 by two friends fresh out of college, with an inexorable desire to create something for the greater good, something to help generations of kids learn our love for music and music education. In Millburn and Gillette, we have been able to do that. The thousands of kids we have taught are an attestation to that fact. Additionally, we have been able to employ dozens of wonderful instructors who truly enjoy sharing their experiences and knowledge with your kids.
And yet, here we are, by no fault of our own or of our instructors, struggling to survive in a sea of uncertainty. Not unlike sailors trapped at sea with miles upon miles of water surrounding them, only to go thirsty. We know your kids still need music. We know that we have a safe way for your kids to learn music. When Covid hit, we quickly pivoted to online lessons, and have recently begun to provide safe in-person lessons at both of our locations. However, due to issues on a greater scale than we care to discuss, people are left feeling unsafe at extracurricular offerings such as music lessons, and they do not want to try online lessons or their child may not be a good fit for virtual lessons.
To be upfront about our current situation, we could really use your help. Due to COVID, our future as a business is, frankly, uncertain. We want to be here for you and your kids during and after this crisis passes, but, we need your help to get there. We just ask that you consider enrolling in in-person or online lessons as you are comfortable. While we understand that many people would prefer to pay less for online lessons, we simply can’t afford to drop prices since we still have the same costs associated with our instructors, buildings, equipment, insurance expenses, and other overhead costs. We, like many other businesses, are not equipped at the core to sustain solely based on online offerings but are hoping to maintain long enough to weather the storm.
To that end, we are working on ways to make lessons at So i Heard Music even more fun. We are working on creating webinars, live streams, virtual open mics, virtual band showcases, and a new online class system and social network that will be an awesome way for your kids to get the most out of their time at So i Heard, now and in the future. The more kids who enroll in weekly lessons, the more resources we can pour into these ventures. It’s a bit of a catch 22, so we are doing our best to create these programs now, in hopes that people will find value in them and stay enrolled or re-enroll.
We do appreciate every one of you and your students for your patronage past, present, and future. And with your help, we’ll be here for a while longer. To re-enroll, call the studio at 973-232-5111 or contact us via this form and we’ll reach out. We hope to see you soon.
Thank you,
Sam & Sean
