Family and Friends of Northside,
We’re excited to share with you a big project that we’ve been working on for a while and are finally ready to launch: we’re starting our very own blog, Northside Notes! Whether you’re a parent trying to spice up at-home rehearsals, a student looking for advice on how to use technology to improve your performance or a prospective family wanting to know more about the awesome things that happen here at Northside Music Academy, this blog is for you! We can’t wait to share all of the informative and interesting content we have prepared with you all.
To kick off the blog, we wanted to dedicate our first post to our origin story. We often spend our time looking forward and focusing on the events and recitals that we have year-round, but for this special occasion we thought a trip down memory lane was in order. We have had the privilege of being a part of the Edgebrook community for over 4 years now, and we want to share how we got here with all of you!
Northside Music Academy was founded in 2017 as the dream of musician couple Alin and Natalia Cernaianu, who each had over ten years of experience teaching music in various other music schools both in Europe and the United States prior to owning their own business. After moving near Edgebrook, they realized that there was a need for a high-quality music school in this area. Using all of their past experiences and their passion for music, they decided to start one! Throughout the process of renovating their space and beginning this incredible journey, it was always the goal of Alin and Natalia to bridge the gap between joy-filled experiences and dedicated, quality musicianship.
“It was always a dream of ours to create a space where we can bring together the rigor and structure of the music education we grew up with with the more positive, cheerful and fun-focused approach in the US. Playing music is supposed to be joyful and fun-filled, but you cannot have that without effort and dedication! We are thankful for the opportunity to share our passion and experience with the wonderful community around us.” - Alin
NMA began by offering just two main instruments of focus: piano and violin! From there, the studio grew quickly and expanded to offering lessons on more than ten different instruments, with over twenty-five carefully-selected, world-class teachers! Today, Northside Music Academy is considered one of Chicago’s top music schools for children, and provides lessons to students from all around the North Chicagoland area, and even to a few students from different states entirely due to the convenience of our online lesson options that began in 2020!
“Our students and our teachers are the very core of our school. We believe that the teachers' ability to inspire the students' love for music is essential. Therefore, we are very careful about selecting our teachers, making sure that they are not only experts in their instrument, but also that they have the ability to connect well with the kids and create a student-focused curriculum which will bring out the music in every child!” - Natalia
We’re so excited to start this blog and to share even more NMA history, fun facts about music education and tips on growing your student’s confidence through music. We also want to know of anything you’d be interested in! Is there something you’ve been dying to know about the music industry, tips on how to improve your skills or any other NMA-related topic? Send us an email with your suggestions or drop your idea in the comment section below! We’d love to hear from you.
Thank you for joining us on this exciting new journey!
Northside Music Academy