Technology is venturing into a new frontier: It is upending and democratizing the world of music lessons.
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Natalia Badziak is a member of the California Symphony and a substitute with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. She is a graduate of the Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music, where she completed Bachelor’s degrees in viola performance and comparative literature, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she completed her Master’s degree. Natalia has taught both violin and viola for ten years in music schools, privately, and through conservatory preparatory departments to students of all ages. She specializes in both classical and contemporary techniques.
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Praised for his “saxophone virtuosity” by Downbeat Magazine, Max Bessesen is a rising young saxophonist and composer in New York City. His 2020 debut album Trouble (Ropeadope Records) features Cornettist Ron Miles and was well reviewed by Jazziz, Jazz Times, and Jazzwise. He has performed with musicians like Greg Ward, Dana Hall, and Bobby Broom and his work is supported by The Luminarts Foundation, Pathways to Jazz, and The Frank Huntington Beebe Fund. Max teaches jazz, classical and popular music to his students and is currently pursuing a masters degree at the Manhattan School of Music.
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Born and raised in Brazil, I started taking piano lessons when I was 7 years old and played in my first recitals and took part in piano competitions by 8 years old. I moved to Curitiba to college, where I took my Bachelor in Music at the School of Fine Arts of Paraná. In 2019, I moved to the USA, where I went to the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I have been working as piano, music theory and history of music for 9 years and I am looking forward to teach and learn much more.
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Jazz pianist, producer and educator Aman Almeida grew up in Bangalore, India. He has played with many distinguished artists including trumpet player Dominick Farinacci, film scorer Terence Blanchard and tenor saxophonist Ernie Krivda. In 2021, Aman received his B.M in professional music from the Berklee College of Music, Boston.
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Arianna Giesbrecht is a graduate of the highly selective Accelerated B.M./M.M. Program at The Juilliard School under the guidance of Jerome Lowenthal and Hung-Kuan Chen. She has appeared in performance ranging from a piano arrangement of the national anthem at the Cleveland Indians Home Opener to a performance of Chopin's Concerto No. 2 with orchestra. Arianna is passionate about the growth of all students and believes in creating and fostering a positive environment where her students have the abilities to grow as both musicians and individuals.
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All our teachers are from top music conservatories, such as Juilliard or Oberlin. They also must have extensive teaching experience and be recommended by conservatory professors.
We never expect you to pay for a lesson that you aren’t satisfied with. After your trial lesson, if you are not satisfied, please contact hello@virtu.academy, so we can set you up with a new teacher.
That’s great to hear! Our teachers always appreciate if you mention their name in a positive review on Google of Facebook.
If you would like to contact your teacher, you can add a message to the “new student information” form you received in your confirmation email. You may also email hello@virtu.academy and we can pass along the message.
Some of our teachers limit the number of students they can work with to ensure they have enough time to dedicate to each student. If you cannot find another teacher that looks like a good fit, please email hello@virtu.academy and we can reach out to your desired teacher.
We do have teachers that specialize in most common teaching methods. If you would like to request one of these teachers, please email hello@virtu.academy.
If it is fewer than 24 hours before your lesson, you will need to contact us at hello@virtu.academy or call/text us at 202-919-8082 to reschedule.
You can reschedule or cancel your lesson anytime online by clicking the “change/cancel” button in your confirmation email or logging in to your account.
In certain cases, we are able to waive the late cancellation fees for emergencies. Please text or call 202-919-8082 as soon as possible to let us know.
If you need to reschedule or cancel a lesson, we require at least 24 hours notice to avoid late cancellation fees. You can reschedule or cancel your lesson anytime online by clicking the “change/cancel” button in your confirmation email or logging in to your account.
After choosing a teacher and purchasing a lesson, all you need is a computer with a built in microphone and webcam. After booking you will be sent a link that connects you with your teacher at the scheduled time with two clicks.
Although there are some differences, multiple studies on distance learning, including a study from UNC, have shown that students are 36% more focused and perform 22% better when compared to in-person lesson. We also take advantage of Zoom’s High Fidelity Music Mode, which was developed in partnership with Yale School of Music. This ensures that your teacher can hear every detail of your playing during each lesson.
You can also use the “reserve without paying” button to reserve lessons without being charged. 1 day before each lesson, any credits on your account will automatically be applied to those lessons. If you do not have any credits on your account from a package/subscription, you will be billed for that lesson individually.
If you and your teacher agree that 45 minute lessons would be best for you, please email hello@virtu.academy and we can provide you with a link to get those scheduled.
Each student should have their own lesson time booked in the calendar to ensure the teacher can create lesson plans for each student. If you have multiple children working with us, a package or subscription can be shared by both students for a larger discount. You can view those pricing options at https://virtu.as.me.
In general, you can schedule lessons up to 1 year in advance.
Our teachers generally require that you schedule a lesson with at least a 24 hours notice. That means that you should be able to have a lesson as soon as tomorrow!
Generally, each student is allowed to take one trial lesson per instrument. If you were not satisfied with your first trial lesson or would like to try out another teacher before making your decision, you ARE allowed to book an additional trial lesson with another teacher at the 50% off rate.
The easiest way to book lessons is to log into your account to redeem any lesson credits you have and book additional lessons. You can also schedule a lesson at https://virtu.as.me.
You can view our teachers and purchase a 50% off trial lesson at https://virtu.academy/trial. From there, you can filter by instrument, experience level, genre, and age to find the perfect fit.
You can pause or cancel a subscription at anytime by clicking the “change/cancel” button in your purchase confirmation emails or by logging into your account. If you have any trouble, you can email hello@virtu.academy 24 hours before the next billing date, and we can ensure it gets cancelled for you.
Lesson credits never expire and rollover each month.
You can redeem your package or subscription by logging into your account and selecting the package or subscription you’d like to redeem. You can also click the “schedule” button in your purchase confirmation email.
You will be able to redeem your package or subscription at checkout instead of entering your payment information. At checkout, you should see a “redeem” button where you can enter your code or email address to redeem any credits on your account. You can also use the “reserve without paying” button to reserve lessons without being charged. 1 day before each lesson, any credits on your account will automatically be applied to those lessons.
Purchasing a package or subscription will add lesson credits to your account but NOT schedule any lessons for you. You will need to log in to redeem those credits or click the “schedule” button in your payment confirmation email.
A package is a one time purchase of a set number of lessons. Weekly and monthly subscriptions are billed every week or month for a set number of lessons.
If you are unsatisfied with your trial lesson, we can provide a refund. We cannot provide refunds, however, for any packages, subscriptions.
We are unable to refund unused packages or subscriptions. If you accidentally schedule a lesson, please email hello@virtu.academy, and we can get it credited back to your account.
If a teacher cancels a lesson, you can reschedule that lesson free of charge.
If you cancel a lesson at least 24 hours prior to the lesson, you will be receive a credit back to your account to use anytime.
If a lesson wasn’t paid for at checkout, any package/subscription credits will be applied automatically 1 day before the lesson. If you do not have any credits on your account, you will be charged automatically 1 day before the lesson.
After you log in to your account, you will see all of your upcoming lessons as well as any packages or subscriptions on your account.
If you forgot your password, you can reset it by clicking the log in button then “reset my password”
You can log in to your account by clicking the log in button at https://virtu.academy
You can create an account by clicking “log in” on our homepage then clicking “Sign up here”. Please be sure to use the same email address you used when booking lessons.
We recently added our new dashboard feature, and you’ll need to register for a new account to view that, even if you have already registered or taken lessons with us. You can click the “log in” button on our home page then click “sign up here” to register for an account.
If you're not completely satisfied with your first lesson, we will find you a new teacher and pay for your first lesson.
Trial Lesson offer only valid for new customers. Limit 1 per customer. Customers that purchase an invalid trial lesson will be charged the full price of the package.
