Yi Qian, owner and director of Syosset’s iSchool of Music and Art, born in China but currently residing in Roslyn Heights, said the study and love of music has been a constant aspect of his life for as long as he can remember.
“I was a percussionist and soloist, and participated in a lot of competitions and recitals,” he said. “I eventually earned a Master’s Degree and then went to Indianapolis where I taught for four years. Then in 2005 I moved back to Long Island.”
Throughout the years, Qian had kept in touch with a college friend named Ken Benshish. When he moved back to Long Island, Qian reached out to him about developing a business venture that would encompass their mutual love of performing and teaching music.
“At that time, Ken was living in Texas,” he said. “We had gone to college together—we were both drummers—and we wanted to open a music school, but something interesting…something for the kids, but not a regular school.”
In 2005, the two started their first iSchool—the “i” standing for “inspiration,”—in Port Washington, followed by a second location in Syosset in 2008, and finally a third in Rockville Centre. In addition to teaching music, iSchool also holds art classes, where they instruct students in cartooning, painting and photography.
iSchool teaches all musical instruments except for brass, with the main focus being on piano, guitar, drums and some string instruments such as the violin and cello, all taught by certified professionals in the field. However, while the instruments may seem familiar, Qian said the teaching techniques used to get students to learn how to play them are a little more off the beaten path.
“We really want to be able to connect to the students. We want to teach the music that they’re really interested in,” he said. “For example, instead of teaching the classical way—with private, one-on-one lessons and then sending the kid home to practice by themselves—we teach them some basic skills and then immediately put them in with a band with a drummer, guitarist, singer and everything. They have to function right away in a group, before they can hardly play a single note.”
This approach may sound like a terrifying “sink or swim” method to the uninitiated, but Qian said that it’s actually far more effective in many respects than traditional music school techniques.
“Being taught and then practicing by yourself is a very solitary thing. It’s not very encouraging,” he said. “When you have a group of kids together and they play music together, they feel like they’re doing something together. They can encourage and support each other and it works really well.”
Giving students a boost of confidence via live performances is another big part of the training at iSchool. Qian noted that there are numerous venues throughout New York where they regularly put on shows in order to allow the kids under his tutelage to show off their new-found and hard-earned musical skills in front of friends and family.
“We have a space in the basement of iSchool, but we also take them to places like Landmark Theater in Port Washington, The Nutty Irishman in Farmingdale, The Bitter End in Manhattan and more,” he said. “All of these venues, kids usually don’t get into them, but we rent them for the whole day and they have a chance to play on a real stage and that really motivates them.”
However, iSchool’s latest upcoming venue is just a wee bit farther than any of the aforementioned establishments. Qian said that he will be taking a select group of his students all the way for a special engagement in his homeland of China on April 6.
“In China, learning music is more traditional. They learn the basics in the classical way, and here we play a lot of rock music, modern music. So they got really interested and wanted to know a little more about us,” he said. “We were invited by The National Library of China to go there to have a concert in the Library hall, after which we’ll have a clinic with Chinese children where we’ll talk about our philosophy, how we teach and so on.”
The cultural exchange is slated to continue this upcoming summer, as some of these Chinese students will be making the trek to America to visit iSchool in July, Qian said.
And while business has been booming since they first opened their three locations, Qian said that there are currently no plans to expand further at the moment; to do so might risk losing iSchool’s unique and supportive environment, he said, where the students always come first above all else.
“We picked Syosset for this location because of its support of music education,” he said. “When we first opened here in 2008, it was great…we got a lot of support and a lot of families that joined in 2008 are still here with us today. But despite doing so well, there are no plans to franchise or anything like that. We want to really know and take care of every student, keep the personal contact with our students and their parents.”
To find out more about iSchool of Music and Art, visit www.ischoolmusicart.com.
