Vanessa’s musical journey and the start of a new music centre

Music has always been in Vanessa’s blood. Her studio opened two years ago, but her history with music runs much deeper. 

She started taking piano lessons at six years old and continued well into high school. It was her piano teacher who recommended that she take vocal lessons, which she did with an instructor from Robertville. This formed the basis for what would become Studio Vanessa Music Lesson Centre.

Vanessa left Bathurst after high school for Moncton, where she got her Bachelor’s degree at the Université de Moncton. Throughout her time in school, she also worked at Long & McQuade, where she got the idea for a music studio.

“They have a lesson centre there,” says Vanessa. “They don’t really have the bigger studios here in Bathurst, so I took the idea of what they were doing and brought it here. I wanted to involve as many kids as possible”

So, two years ago, Vanessa returned to the region and opened up her music studio in Beresford. She offers several beginner groups for kids, as well as private lessons for both kids and adults. Vanessa teaches Group Piano, Group Voice, Basics for Young Children, and Group Rock Band for some of the older kids. 

Basics for Young Children is an introductory class which focuses on the discovery of different musical instruments, and Group Rock Band puts kids together to play as a traditional rock band with bass, drums, guitar, vocals, and piano.

Vanessa also has student teachers to help with the load, and she’s brought on a guitar teacher who teaches lessons in her upstairs studio. 

If this schedule isn’t busy enough, Vanessa is also a music teacher who’s currently working at Le Tournesol in Petit-Rocher. 

The region is lucky to have someone like Vanessa offering something that we didn’t currently have. There are places here where you can do private lessons, but what Vanessa is doing is teaching lessons in groups, and turning music into something social and fun. 

When we asked her what brought her back to the area, and what made her want to open her business here, she said because here you can do your own thing, and of course, because it’s home.

“There are better opportunities for small businesses here than in places like Moncton.”

She also rents a concert hall twice a year. The kids have a Christmas concert, and an end of the year concert in May. Last year, both these shows sold out.

Studio Vanessa also has a website, which you can visit here if you’d like to learn more: https://www.studiovanessa.ca/

You can also check out their Facebook page and their YouTube channel, where Vanessa consistently posts progress videos.

We want to thank Vanessa for taking the time to speak with us and for telling us about her journey. 

Well, that’s it for another edition of the Northern Heat Report. The place you come to listen to the stories that have not yet been discovered.