By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Both Sophia Schmitz and Betsy Williams discovered a passion for music at an early age.
Schmitz, of Perrysburg, started playing violin at 3, and was gigging when she was 11. “My mom’s an artist and my family is very musical so I was surrounded by that.”
Williams, the youngest of six children, grew up in northern Kentucky with a musical mother who had the entire family singing every morning.
Schmitz started teaching when she was in high school, but even before that had a goal in mind. “Since I was 12 it’s been my vision to open a studio.”
For her part as the youngest of six, Williams got a late start on violin lessons. The cost of lessons was an obstacle. Her mother had taught her piano and the musical basics. “I taught myself several instruments before I settled on violin.”
Those experiences and passion have now taken shape in their new endeavors.
Schmitz founded the Black Swamp Fine Arts School in January, realizing her dream of opening a studio. Williams teaches violin, viola and cello at the school. Both are graduate students in the Bowling Green State University College of Musical Arts.
As a BGSU undergraduate Schmitz had a minor in entrepreneurship, and in one class she had to put together a proposal for a business.
When she started figuring out how much it would take to open a music studio, she realized she could make it work. So last fall she met with lawyers and accountants, and with help pulled together a studio in space at 500 Lehman Ave. in Bowling Green where she could teach violin, piano and dance, as well as offer a space to other professional musicians associated with the university to teach.
She’d already been teaching in the area, but finding a space for lessons was always a chore. Students are not allowed to use university facilities.
Williams was teaching as well. She’d already been working with orchestra students at the Bowling Green High and Middle schools.
Schmitz said most teachers rent space, similar to what stylists do in a salon. Others, including Williams and the two dance teachers, were hired as independent contractors.
The school now has 10 teachers and about 100 music and dance students.
Now they want to make that joy of music available to more children and adults with a new ensemble program.
Williams initiated the project. The idea would be to have three ensembles.
One will be a beginning ensemble for children 8 through 14, who may or may not be taking private lessons.
The second ensemble would be for children who have been playing for at least a year.
The third would be for adults who want to learn to play a string instrument.
The classes are scheduled to start Jan. 13 and 14 with registration underway through Dec. 1. Contact http://www.blackswampfineartsschool.com/group-string-classes/.
Williams wants to give all string players a chance to play in an ensemble regardless of the school they attend or if they are homeschooled, as both she and Schmitz were.
They would like at least 10 in each ensemble. The pricing is set to be affordable for families. One semester cost $70 for the first child with discounts for the next two. The fourth family member is free. That pricing includes lessons for adults. “My passion is to make it as affordable as possible for a number of kids in the family,” Williams said.
They turned to a gofundme campaign to launch the program. Their goal was $550 for chairs and stands and they exceeded that. “A lot of my old students from Kentucky heard about it and wanted to support it,” Williams said. “It was very exciting.”
A couple parents of current students have already expressed interest in signing up for the adult orchestra.
“The goal is really to get families playing together,” Williams said. “Making music as a family is really special, and we really want to encourage that.”
