With seven years in business, Eskay’s Music Lessons has already learned to adapt in a changing world.
“We are celebrating our seventh anniversary on Aug. 16,” said Sarah Khan of Jericho, the owner and founder of Eskay’s Music Lessons. “That’s a special day for me, because that day was the first client that we had sign up. It was actually my personal student, a piano student in Massapequa. Within the seven years, half of it was during the pandemic.”
Eskay’s Music Lessons offers home lessons in piano, voice, violin, viola, flute, clarinet, saxophone, ear training, music theory, music history, composition, and song writing for students across Long Island. It also continues to offer virtual lessons.
“In the very beginning, it was a smaller team,” Khan said. “I was teaching a lot. I only had two or three other teachers. Our student base was quite small. It was mainly Long Island, Nassau County on the North Shore. Then the pandemic hit, and I had never taught virtually before. Neither had most of my teachers. And I remember this one day in March, I found out things were going to be closed, at that time they only said two weeks. I then, luckily, was able to transition most of our students that were already in person, to give virtual a try.”
With a smooth transition to virtual lessons, Eskay’s Music Lessons began to get students from all over the country, including from Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Connecticut and other parts of New York. Some of these students still get virtual lessons from Eskay’s.
“I got the opportunity to work with families and students that I wouldn’t normally be able to work with if we were just doing in-person,” Khan said.
Eskay’s continued its traditions of hosting showcases, even during the pandemic. In the virtual showcase, students had the choice to perform live or submit a recording, which was edited into a segment that was aired during the showcase.
When asked what makes Eskay’s Music Lessons stand out, Khan said that she takes the time to make sure the student and the teacher are a good fit.
“I wanted to create a school where not only the quality of education is top notch, but also a place where we bridge the gap [between the students, teachers and the owner,],” Khan said. “That’s the kind of culture I’ve created where people know I’m involved. They get to know me.”
As the beginning of a new school year approaches, Eskay’s Music has just hired a new woodwinds teacher, who teaches flute, clarinet and saxophone, an instrument that Eskay’s has not yet offered instruction for.
“The future is just to continue to build our base here on Long Island,” Khan said. “The next step would be to have a physical location, and not just a location for music, but for performing arts [like dancing and acting].”
To learn more about Eskay’s Music Lessons, visit eskaysmusiclessons.com.
