Academy For The Arts at First Baptist Church Shreveport

So proud of our students and their teacher Kara Ross performing at an open mic night! Way to go kiddos!!

It's not official until there is a picture right? Well...here it is! Click on the link below to register!
www.aftafbcs.org/community-chorale/

It's not official until there is a picture right? Well...here it is! Click on the link below to register!
www.aftafbcs.org/community-chorale/

It's not official until there is a picture correct? Well, here it is!!!!
click the link to register!
www.aftafbcs.org/community-chorale/

It's not official until there is a picture correct? Well, here it is!!!!
click the link to register!
www.aftafbcs.org/community-chorale/

We are so proud of our own Julia Clancy who is currently on tour in Europe with the amazing West-Eastern Divan Orchestra led by the world famous Daniel Barenboim. Julia will be back in the states ready to teach YOUR child in a few weeks. Be sure to register online at aftafbcs.org.

Did you see all of the amazing teachers that we have for this year!!! We cannot wait to get back in the studios with you and/or your children. AFTA has openings for all ages. Register online today at www.aftafbcs.org!

We would like to welcome our newest piano/voice teacher, Kara Ross!! Kara is a mother to 4 children. She has taught private lessons in piano, guitar, ukulele, violin, voice and music theory on and off for 12 years. She played violin in the Oklahoma Youth Philharmonics and Oklahoma Youth Orchestra before playing in the Orchestra at Mississippi State University. She has a love for seeing the light turn on in her student's eyes when something clicks in the middle of their lessons, and is looking forward to nurturing the love of music in your children! Welcome Kara!!

We would like to welcome our newest piano/voice teacher, Kara Ross!! Kara is a mother to 4 children. She has taught private lessons in piano, guitar, ukulele, violin, voice and music theory on and off for 12 years. She played violin in the Oklahoma Youth Philharmonics and Oklahoma Youth Orchestra before playing in the Orchestra at Mississippi State University. She has a love for seeing the light turn on in her student's eyes when something clicks in the middle of their lessons, and is looking forward to nurturing the love of music in your children! Welcome Kara!!

We are so excited to welcome back to our faculty, Lisa Alford!
Lisa comes to us from the finance world. As a graduate from SMU with a Bachelors in Accounting and a Masters in business, she held a CPA position before returning to the piano. Lisa was a champion competitive concert pianist in the South when she was younger and has brought that passion to the teaching world. She is the Spring Musical Director at First Baptist Church School in addition to giving private piano lessons. She is an active member of Norris Ferry Community Church where she plays piano and assists with KidShine.

We are so excited to welcome back to our faculty, Lisa Alford!
Lisa comes to us from the finance world. As a graduate from SMU with a Bachelors in Accounting and a Masters in business, she held a CPA position before returning to the piano. Lisa was a champion competitive concert pianist in the South when she was younger and has brought that passion to the teaching world. She is the Spring Musical Director at First Baptist Church School in addition to giving private piano lessons. She is an active member of Norris Ferry Community Church where she plays piano and assists with KidShine.

We are constantly adding teachers and exciting things to the Academy! Today we would like to welcome Carla Goben!!

Carla teaches classical piano and voice. She has taught piano for 37 years, having studied under the renowned Nena Plant Wideman for 16 years. She has taught voice for 10 years, having studied under Dr. Yong. She played as a concert pianist with the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra on four separate occasions beginning at the age of 14. She has also had lead roles in many musical theater productions over the years. Carla has been at FBCS since 2009 and teaches theory and music from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern eras of music. She is a member of Greater Shreveport Music Teachers Association. Her students compete, winning mostly superior, making the Honors recital, and winning or placing in Rally, in the Solo Festival, Baroque/Sonatina Festival, and LMTA Rally. She looks forward to meeting new students and seeing her current students.

We are constantly adding teachers and exciting things to the Academy! Today we would like to welcome Carla Goben!!

Carla teaches classical piano and voice. She has taught piano for 37 years, having studied under the renowned Nena Plant Wideman for 16 years. She has taught voice for 10 years, having studied under Dr. Yong. She played as a concert pianist with the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra on four separate occasions beginning at the age of 14. She has also had lead roles in many musical theater productions over the years. Carla has been at FBCS since 2009 and teaches theory and music from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern eras of music. She is a member of Greater Shreveport Music Teachers Association. Her students compete, winning mostly superior, making the Honors recital, and winning or placing in Rally, in the Solo Festival, Baroque/Sonatina Festival, and LMTA Rally. She looks forward to meeting new students and seeing her current students.

The good news just keeps coming!!! We are honored and excited to welcome Arielle Bustin to the Academy Staff!

Arielle is a local singer and guitarist in the Shreveport and Bossier area. She has been playing guitar since she was in junior high, preparing to be the worship leader at her youth group in Colorado. She lead worship all throughout high school, accompanying herself on guitar and playing with different bands. She picked up the ukulele on the way and enjoyed having such a portable instrument to take on international missions with Youth With a Mission. Now, she teaches beginner guitar and ukulele locally and hosts her own broadcast called Music and Tea, a show that features different artists each week. She is excited to meet future guitar and ukulele students!

The good news just keeps coming!!! We are honored and excited to welcome Arielle Bustin to the Academy Staff!

Arielle is a local singer and guitarist in the Shreveport and Bossier area. She has been playing guitar since she was in junior high, preparing to be the worship leader at her youth group in Colorado. She lead worship all throughout high school, accompanying herself on guitar and playing with different bands. She picked up the ukulele on the way and enjoyed having such a portable instrument to take on international missions with Youth With a Mission. Now, she teaches beginner guitar and ukulele locally and hosts her own broadcast called Music and Tea, a show that features different artists each week. She is excited to meet future guitar and ukulele students!

[05/10/21]   Are you worried about your children being bored this summer? Don't be! We are offering summer lessons with violin, viola, drums, guitar, ukulele and voice! Message us today to schedule your lessons!

We are so proud of these voice students from the studio of Heather Vandiver. They did a wonderful job as did all the students involved with Frozen Jr put on by First Baptist Church School

[04/29/21]   Are you interested in summer lessons? We now have availability for Drum lessons throughout the summer and Violin, Viola lessons through the end of June. Contact us for more info!

We are so proud of our students that are in this cast! It’s going to be a great show!!!

Our production of Frozen Jr. is this week. Tickets are on sale at FBCS. There are premier and regular tickets available for all 5 performances. The sale of the tickets will be before school at 7:30 in the lobby of Dodd Hall and after school if tickets remain.

Are you ready for some more exciting news?!? We are excited to welcome Taron Church to our teaching staff.

Drummer/Percussionist Taron Church is a full time musician in the Shreveport Bossier area. Taron has had the opportunity to tour with artist Holly Starr and has performed at events such as NightVision, Creation Fest and Unity Fest. Before moving to Shreveport, he had the honor of working with High school and Middle school band directors Josiah St Peter and Shawn Lund. Taron has relocated to Shreveport and become the drummer for local band Waking Up To Love. He has taught over 100 drum students ages 6-50 and served at many churches in the Shreveport/Bossier.

Taron will be accepting students for summer lessons and will begin our regular fall semester in August. Call or message us today to begin your lessons with this fantastic musician!

Are you ready for some more exciting news?!? We are excited to welcome Taron Church to our teaching staff.

Drummer/Percussionist Taron Church is a full time musician in the Shreveport Bossier area. Taron has had the opportunity to tour with artist Holly Starr and has performed at events such as NightVision, Creation Fest and Unity Fest. Before moving to Shreveport, he had the honor of working with High school and Middle school band directors Josiah St Peter and Shawn Lund. Taron has relocated to Shreveport and become the drummer for local band Waking Up To Love. He has taught over 100 drum students ages 6-50 and served at many churches in the Shreveport/Bossier.

Taron will be accepting students for summer lessons and will begin our regular fall semester in August. Call or message us today to begin your lessons with this fantastic musician!

We are so excited to welcome Julia Clancy to our teaching staff!!!

Violist and Violinist Julia Clancy is a doctoral candidate at Yale University. Before attending Yale, she was a student at the Juilliard School and the Cleveland Institute of Music. She comes to Shreveport after playing in Daniel Barenboim's Staatskapelle
Orchestra in Berlin, Germany as well as the West Eastern Divan Orchestra. She has been teaching violin, viola, music theory, and general music to students ages 4-70 for over 15 years.

Julia will begin accepting students for lessons now until the end of June and will begin our regular fall semester in August. Call or message us today to begin your lessons with this fantastic musician!

We are so excited to welcome Julia Clancy to our teaching staff!!!

Violist and Violinist Julia Clancy is a doctoral candidate at Yale University. Before attending Yale, she was a student at the Juilliard School and the Cleveland Institute of Music. She comes to Shreveport after playing in Daniel Barenboim's Staatskapelle
Orchestra in Berlin, Germany as well as the West Eastern Divan Orchestra. She has been teaching violin, viola, music theory, and general music to students ages 4-70 for over 15 years.

Julia will begin accepting students for lessons now until the end of June and will begin our regular fall semester in August. Call or message us today to begin your lessons with this fantastic musician!

[04/20/21]   We have some BIG news coming soon!!!😀💗🎵🎶

[04/13/21]   We want to thank you all for supporting us through this crazy time! We will hopefully have all of our programs opened back up for the fall semester including the SB Chorale as well as the Chinese Language Class. In addition to our old ones we will be offering some new class options as well as some new faces. We can't wait to see what 2021 brings!

[02/25/21]   A big thank you to all the workers who have worked tirelessly getting us back on track with our water and heating situation. We are back open for classes beginning today, February 25th.

Celebrating Sally!

We are honored to be a part of this! Thank you Sally for all you do and have done for the performing arts in our area!!

Celebrating Sally!

[02/21/21]   Due to lack of water and heat, all lessons will be cancelled this Monday, February 22nd and Tuesday, February 23rd. We will keep you updated concerning the rest of the week.

Academy for the Arts – @FirstBaptistSchool

We are still accepting students for our in person spring semester. COVID guidelines are in place to protect you and our teachers. Call us today or register online at www.aftafbcs.org!

Academy for the Arts – @FirstBaptistSchool Home Academy for the Arts Believing that Artistic Inspiration and Talents are Gifts which Need to be Shared in Order to be Fully Realized Meet the Teachers Academy for the Arts We Offer Regular and Exciting Opportunities for Individual and Group Music Lessons Which one will you play? Lessons Teacher...

[01/10/21]   Snow day tomorrow!
The academy will be closed.

[01/04/21]   We are starting our spring semester and would love to have you as a student. All ages are welcome and we have lessons for every interest! Our instructors teach in a socially distanced atmosphere using precautions such as masks and sanitizer. Contact us today if you would to add some music into your life.
aftafbcs.org

[10/20/20]   Happy Fall! We may not be able to have mass choirs but we still offer all sorts of private lessons! Call us today!

Academy For The Arts at First Baptist Church Shreveport's cover photo

Academy For The Arts at First Baptist Church Shreveport's cover photo

Academy for the Arts – @FirstBaptistSchool

It is time to get registered for the fall!!! Be sure to go to www.aftafbcs.org in order to fill out your registration. This is for current and new students. Remember we teach ALL ages!!! You are never too old to learn something new!

aftafbcs.org

[07/24/20]   We welcome Eric Vandiver to our staff. Eric comes to us with an extensive career regarding the piano. He graduated in 1999 with a Bachelor of Church Music degree from Union University. Since graduation he has been the pianist/music minister for several churches in the Shreveport/East Texas area. During his career he has accompanied choirs across the United States and England. He has performed for notable people such as Gen. Colin Powell, Margaret Thatcher, and legendary coach Lou Holtz. He is currently the pianist at First Baptist Shreveport. We are excited to have him join us with his enthusiasm and love of teaching his art.

[07/24/20]   Welcome to the fall semester of the Academy for the Arts! Please see below for all the changes!

[07/23/20]   We are excited to announce that we WILL have classes/lessons this fall! We will follow the guidelines for social distancing that has been set by the Government. There are a lot of new changes in our teaching staff as well so stay tuned!!

[02/27/20]   It is not too late to join us in the Shreveport/Bossier Community Chorale! We had a fantastic rehearsal last Sunday with a talented group of singers and the ever amazing Gay Grosz on piano. Join us this Sunday from 4:00-5:30 at First Baptist Church Shreveport as we continue rehearsing Robert Ray's "Gospel Mass" as well as songs from Les Miserables and the Three Madrigals plus more!

[01/28/20]   It's not too late to register for this season's SB Chorale! We are getting in some fantastic music! You can register at aftafbcs.org/community-chorale

[01/16/20]   It is almost time for the first rehearsal of the Shreveport/Bossier Community Choir!!! The first rehearsal is Sunday, February 23rd from 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm. The selections include Robert Ray's "Gospel Mass", Lauridsen's "Dirait-on", and much more. For a full listing of pieces and to register go to https://aftafbcs.org/community-chorale/

Academy For The Arts at First Baptist Church Shreveport's cover photo