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By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Music opportunities are expanding with the establishment of PraiseMakerz Studio.

“PraiseMakerz Studio at West End is a brand-new music school here at West End Baptist Church,” Director Liv Meany said. “Our mission is to bring quality music education to the people of Chilton County and our surrounding areas.”

Meany said she wanted to be able to offer music opportunities that are typically available to families in larger cities.

“We have a lot of very talented teachers in this area,” Meany said. “We wanted to be able to give a hub here that could reach out and do that on a larger scale.”

The goal, she said, is to help students explore and improve their musical talent “while ultimately sharing the love of Christ with them.”

The studio includes the Kindermusik program and private lessons for students older than 7.

Meany said private lessons are offered in voice and piano, but there are plans to expand this to include guitar and percussion.

“We would love to pursue instructors outside of that for all instruments,” Meany said.

She said the studio accepts resumes for potential teachers on an ongoing basis.

“In addition to the music lessons, we also want to include things like drama workshops,” she said.

Visual art and group classes in music theory and related topics would also be long-term goals.

Kindermusik offers group classes for children from birth to age 7.

“We have six classes right now,” Meany said. “They are broken up by ages.”

Each of the classes meets on Thursday and has eight to 12 students depending on how old the students are.

Meany became a certified Kindermusik instructor in July 2019. There are now 40 students in the program. (These classes had previously met in a building of First Baptist in Clanton.)

“Up until age three, an adult (family member or caregiver) is in the class with them,” Meany said. “Then (at and) after age three, they are in class with me for a little while, and the parents come in at the end for a share time … It gives us time to work on even more specific things. A lot of what Kindermusik does is it prepares a child musically for private lessons if they choose that.”

The program also helps children develop in other ways, such as motor and movement skills.

Cost for private lessons is $350 for 17 lessons and Kindermusik is $260 for 16 sessions.

For more information, visit the PraiseMakerz Studio at West End Facebook page. Registration information is available by emailing praisemakerzstudio@gmail.com or calling Meany at 205-470-2354.