Happy National Mentoring Month!

January is National Mentoring Month and mentorship is very important to us here at Center Stage. All of our instructors take pride in the fact that they not only just teach their students,  but also encourage and inspire every student to pursue their passions in music. Mentor is defined as an “experienced and trusted advisor” and that is exactly what our instructors here at Center Stage strive to be. We hope that we can inspire the next generation of musicians to take the leap and follow their passions!

We spoke to a few of our students, current and former, on how Center Stage’s lessons and mentorship has influenced their passion for music.

“In the couple of years I spent training with Center Stage, I realized my true desire to pursue a career in performance. I was always very shy and meek about singing, and not very disciplined. Center Stage set me with what later became a solid foundation for my vocal training. Always open-minded and especially kind, the coaches at Center Stage provided the best encouragement for (at the time) a shy and awkward teen like me. A girl who just wanted to sing classic rock and well, rock out! Now, I’m doing just that with the kind of confidence and risk-taking-attitude only Center Stage could teach me.” – Kalene Speranza

“Center Stage has helped my with everything I could possibly need to take music and make it my career. My teacher has brought me from the basic “C” scale, to reading music, to chords and strengthening my voice to where it is today. The most important thing that she has taught me is to have the self confidence to perform and do things I never thought I would be able to. I am now performing at church and recently just started an instagram page featuring my music. All of these skills will help me to pursue my goal of becoming a singer/songwriter in the future.” – Nicole Springer

“I used to think I wasn’t good enough or special enough, I always felt like I was supposed to be ‘someone’ but I figured everyone felt like that and I should ignore it. I remember I was nineteen when I decided that I deserved a chance to try. I walked into a local music school, Center Stage and told the woman at the counter (her name is Veronica Sanchez) that I had songs in my head and I wanted to get them out. She told me that I was special – that not everyone could do what I did. She gave me free lessons because she knew I couldn’t afford them on my own. She believed in me. I haven’t stopped trying from that moment on. I don’t intend to. Music isn’t something you go after – it’s something you just do.” – Alexandra Aller (aka Skela) from Ramona Magazine for Girls

A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you, than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you. – B. Proctor