By Annie Piekarczyk/ STAFF

From studying the violin and piano since she was seven and teaching music for more than thirty years, Nadia Ausfresser’s interest in music is more than just a hobby – it’s her life, her passion and her well-being. Ausfresser, a local violin and piano teacher – a diamond in the rough in Roswell – has been in love with music since she was a little girl in Russia. There, she took music lessons at school for 17 years, landing her the well-deserved and earned title of music teacher. Today, and more than forty years of playing music later, Ausfresser said confidently that she has the best profession in the world.

“Music feeds you. It gives you positive energy,” said Ausfresser. “Without music, I am lost.” 

In Russia, the qualifications to become a music teacher are more spelled out and concrete than they are in America – where just about anybody who proclaims they can play an instrument can call themselves a teacher. It actually takes well over a decade and a half, seven years of music school, college, conservatory, and a PhD to be considered an accredited music teacher. That’s why Ausfresser believes she sees many students in America who have not learned how to play music correctly or who have simply not learned because their previous teachers have been inexperienced.

“I have watched my children excel with Nadia over the last year in ways they didn’t with their previous piano teacher. She is a gifted instructor and it’s evident she wants to share her love of music,” said Jennifer Hanger, a mother of some of Ausfresser’s students.

Next to some of her students’ previous teachers, Ausfresser is anything but inexperienced. She has taught hundreds of students, all of them memorable. Since she spends so much time with them, Ausfresser admits to learning as much from her students as they from her – or even more, she said. In fact, her first student in America taught her how to speak English while she taught him how to play the piano. 

“I love working with my students. I learn so much from spending time with them,” Ausfresser said. “They get to share their experiences with me, and I get to share my experiences with them; who I’ve met, what I’ve read, what I’ve played – I get to give each of them a little piece of what I’ve been able to experience.”

As giving and gracious as her students have been to her, Ausfresser is just as giving. She has a heart of gold and lives to teach music to her students. It’s them that make the job even more fun than it already is, she said. 

Her students love the way she teaches with a light-hearted attitude – not a laborious one.

“[Ausfresser] laughs a lot! My boys actually want to advance their skill level to please her and we’re thankful we found Nadia,” said Gloria Kee, another parent of students. 

Coming to America

It was in 1989 that Ausfresser came to America and settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She did not begin teaching music immediately after immigrating, but after a while without her usual job of teaching music, Ausfresser felt heartsick and “bored.” At that time, half of her life had been dedicated to music and for her to go without it seemed to her like living without the love of her life standing next to her. Ausfresser then founded the Philadelphia Renaissance Academy, a visual and musical arts school for people of all ages.

“Nobody is too old to learn to play music,” said Ausfresser. “Anybody can learn to play basic piano.”

Ausfresser initially intended for the PRA to be just like the music schools in Russia, where students would take classes for many years but she found that many American parents were not used to signing their children up, committing them to spend years doing one activity. Most American parents have their children dabble in many activities while they’re younger, so they can commit later in life. Ausfresser says having them commit at an earlier age only benefits children, and especially so if they play music. 

“Music and science are developed on the same part of the brain, so they develop very parallel. The better you are in music, the better you are in math and science. That’s why Einstein, for example, played the violin,” Ausfresser said.

One of the most important things children should have in their life, Ausfresser said, was music. From learning how to read notes, how to sight-read and how to play music, children’s memory develops as well as their logical thinking skills. All of Ausfresser’s younger students have gone on to do well in school and succeed.

 
“I can say almost certainly that every kid, no matter how talented, should take music lessons,” declared Ausfresser. “What I’ve noticed is that even if my students started without any particular skills or talent, they all developed very well. They’ve all become very good students in music and school.”

Any age can learn

After years of managing and teaching at PRA, Ausfresser moved to Roswell a year and a half ago and has been teaching violin and piano in the area ever since. She has taught a myriad of students, ranging from very young children to seniors, those with musical skills and those without. She admits that while it is easier for children to learn how to play, it’s not necessarily difficult for adults to learn. 

To prove her point, Ausfresser nostalgically spoke of one of her previous students from Philadelphia, who began studying violin with her when he was 67 years old. He played with Ausfresser for eleven years and eventually landed himself a spot in two orchestras.

It’s actually easier to teach adults, Ausfresser said, because they’re on the same wave-length and have matured, as opposed to when she teaches children and has to “get into character” and make the lesson fun and entertaining. 

Adults, Ausfresser said, learn to play music and relate musical pieces to specific moods and emotions; something children have a more difficult time doing. Children, on the other hand, have no fear of failing or not understanding, so when a problem arises, they’re more willing to admit defeat and ask for help.

Robyn Moore, another mother of students has seen tremendous progress in her children’s musical skills since taking lessons with Ausfresser. “Nadia views music as an art. She helps my children understand the history behind the music and then she helps them paint a beautiful picture,” she said. Nicole Black, another mom, experienced a transformation within her son once he began playing piano with Ausfresser. “Nadia has a way with Ian, my son, and teaching that is utterly breathtaking. Another side of [him] began to emerge [after taking lessons], a side that is beautiful and serene,” she said.

Adults or children, Ausfresser’s students bring her as much joy as life itself, she said. Through the good times and the bad, she has her music, her family and her students; three constants that come together seamlessly in Ausfresser’s life. Without any one of the three, she would be incomplete.

For more information on Aufresser and her tutoring, please call 770-642-0405.