I am a member of the Southwest Michigan Symphony in Benton Harbor, St. Joseph, and Berrien Springs, MI, Johnson City Symphony, and many other performing organizations throughout the United States. Formerly a member of the Knoxville Symphony, Oak Ridge Symphony, and Assisi Performing Arts in Italy, I teach as the String Faculty at Lane and Bill Jones Music in Knoxville, TN. I taught at Walters State Community College from 2012-2016. I freelance in churches in the Southeast United States.
May 10, 2020 PO Box 1731 Knoxville, TN 37901-1731 ` (865) 691-8897 jmfoxviolin@gmail.com foxteachingstudio.com foxteachingstudio.blogspot.com Fox Teaching Studio is an BBB Accredited Business!! Dear Students and Parents, To be more user friendly, I have I made my studio guidelines more concise and easier to reference! 1) Mission Statement: To provide first-class violin, viola, and cello instruction in a care-giving and nurturing environment that places human dignity first and foremost. My violin performing reflects the highest artistic standards in the most musical and technically responsible manner. We work with area symphonies, churches, and educational institutions, to promote beautiful music-making! 2) Procedures: To stay effectively on task, lessons are weekly year-round. Vacations etc in the summer are rescheduled. Lessons are paid monthly at the beginning of the first lesson during the first week of the month. If a student is absent during the first week, payment is still required at that time. Non-payment may delay further lessons and or require a late fee of $25.00 with the fees. Thank you! Returned checks are charged a $25.00 late fee for banking reasons. Please pay cash at that time if that happens. I can take cash but not credit cards! The student may reschedule a lesson with more than 24 hours notice provided a reason is given and the make-up occurs in a timely fashion.(I do not want to forget your make-up!) Serious health and personal emergencies are the only exclusion of the 24 hour procedure if a specific explanation of its nature is provided to the teacher at the time of postponement. Serious emergency cancellations must be communicated to me prior to 2 hours of your scheduled lesson period. Work schedules etc and educational reasons for postponements are not included under 24 hours by the student however. At all times, the decision to make-up a lesson is at my discretion but I always try to accommodate the students’ needs as I also will have schedule issues due to changes in my work schedules! If I am late to a lesson(traffic or overtime at rehearsals)-- please stay at site for 20 minutes before leaving. No worries then however. I always guarantee make-ups due to my schedule issues. Please have voice-mail on your phone in case of an emergency and I need to contact you enroute. When able, I will text. Please do not email schedule requests. I will also give a card with schedule at the prior two lessons before payment is due each month. When bad weather occurs, 1:00PM is the time to communicate the pending schedule that day. The roads must be poor even if schools etc are closed. We do remote lessons when necessary- or between lessons.If the student needs clarification on a topic, this gives us more options. I am happy to assist with no charge or fees- consultation on equipment and music purchases. When I ask for a book for the lesson, please obtain this as soon as possible for continuity reasons. 3) Philosophy: The student may study any style of music whether beginner, intermediate, or an advanced level student. I will share my experiences as a performer directly for the benefit of my students. We are all artists and students of the instrument! Fox Teaching Studio upholds effective dialogue and conflict resolution in the most dignified way! While disagreements will occur at times regarding the pedagogy(playing and teaching the instrument) and guidelines; its resolution does not have to occur immediately but at its best time. Please do not argue in the room or outside the lesson- as we wish the lessons to always be enjoyable for you! We can agree to disagree but a solution is always possible. We are in this endeavor together! Thank you!! John Michael Fox