Parlando School of Musical Arts

We are huge Parlando fans! Both my daughters have taken lessons at Parlando for several years and absolutely love their teachers and have had a terrific experience at the school.
Here is a few things awesome things about Parlando.
— The teachers, we’ve had an incredible teachers at Parlando. They’ve been positive, progressive and really interested in making the learning experience great (more about them below).
— Registration is easy, efficient and online. Parents can even select convenient recital times for their children online.
— Last year, Parlando decided to offer a free group lesson to all private piano students. So students, every month meet different students, perform and get feedback from a different teacher. As importantly, the students and the teachers exchange ideas and build community. Great for inspiration!
— Parlando has a really nice way of offering children at least two public performance opportunities a year. These recitals are optional but encouraged. The philosophy there is low key very supportive performances that get kids use to being comfortable playing in front of others.
— On a broader level, Parlando provides a lot of scholarship, does outreach to schools, provides outreach and music experiences for disabled people and is a really positive force around the community.
— The pianos are in tune, practice rooms are basic but have everything you need, parking at the Dairy is free and we’ve never had trouble finding a spot.
— The cost is comparable to other instructors, and early bird registration provides a further discount.
— The monthly newsletter is great and provides info about musical opportunities around Boulder County.
— Finally Travis LaBerge, the founder, director and a teacher extraordinaire is super nice, reasonable, professional, public spirited and just a class act in every way. His upbeat presence permeates the organization.
Teachers.
Elizabeth Leger has taught my daughters piano for two years. She’s just awesome! Very friendly, very intuitive about. She mixes pop and classic, teaches improv, has a positive reward program, makes sure children have a solid backing in music theory. She’s very familiar with several different pedagogical approaches coming from Canada, Japan, the US. She herself is an incredibly accomplished pianist. Last year, when she was receiving her masters in piano performance from CU, she invited all her students and performed excerpts and then explained and showed her students different parts of the piece. Super patient and positive with every level from beginner to experienced.
Devon Park — horn instructor — Besides being a very accomplished musician i.e. performs with the Opera Colorado, Boulder Phil, Greeley Phil as well as various other performing groups around Colorado, Devon is an incredible teacher. He’s incredibly knowledgeable and patient. He really builds on student’s interests while at the same time gently filling in gaps and exposing them to new ideas. He’s got a great sense of humor and people feel comfortable around him. Whether it is fixing a student’s horn, lending them multiple CDs to compare different performances, providing historical context for a piece, describing the evolution of the horn, Devon is an absolute treasure of a master teacher!