Sunburst News - November 2025

November 1, 2025

November 2025 - Issue #99

IN THIS ISSUE:

Recital Signups ❄️
Halloween Party Recap 🎃
Sunburst Sessions - Boleros 🎤
2025 Policy Survey 📝
Free Classes 🎹
Wheel of Referrals 🎡
Instructor Updates 🎼
2026 School Calendar 🗓
School Closure Reminder ⛄

IMPORTANT DATES

Producers Meet Up - 11/14
Piano Club - 11/14
Thanksgiving Break - 11/25-11/30
Winter Recitals - 12/5-12/6, 12/13-12/14
Holiday Break - 12/23-1/1

Sign Up for Winter Recitals!

We’re thrilled to announce our Winter Recitals, taking place on December 5th, 6th, 13th, and 14th!

We’re especially excited that the recitals on the weekend of December 13th–14th will be held at Haven which is an all-ages music venue in Oakland on Atwood St.

Each of our teachers will host one or two hour-long sessions over the first two weekends of December. There will also be an Adults-Only session on Friday, December 5th. Please check with your instructor to confirm if they’ll be available for that session before signing up.

Students can register using the link below, or feel free to reach out to us directly. We’ll be happy to assist with the registration process!

A Few Important Details

Participation is free! Donations to our Scholarship Fund are warmly welcomed and can be made during checkout or at the door (cash donations accepted). Thank you for supporting our community!
Each recital session lasts about 50 minutes, featuring 12–15 students and an audience of around 40–60 guests.
Friends and family are encouraged to attend! If you plan to bring more than four guests, please let us know in advance so we can arrange seating.
If you can’t attend your teacher’s assigned session but still wish to perform, please contact us and we’ll do our best to place you in another recital.
The Adults-Only session on December 5th is BYOB, and we’ll also have light refreshments available for students and guests.
Some regularly scheduled lessons or programs may overlap with recital times during the first weekend. Please be mindful when entering or leaving the building.

We look forward to seeing everyone perform and celebrate another season with us. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions!

Halloween Party Recap

We had an amazing time at our annual Halloween Party, and we couldn’t have done it without you! A special shoutout to our costume contest winner, Liberty, who wowed everyone with an incredible plague doctor costume.

The Sunburst Band Program sounded fantastic as well, and we couldn’t have asked for a better audience. Thank you all for coming out and celebrating with us! 🎃👻

Sunburst Sessions: Boleros

The Sunburst Boleros came together to record the second installment of Sunburst Sessions in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month this year. Check out their performance of Lágrimas Negras below or head on over to our YouTube Channel to watch it there!

This performance features Juanita Leal and Laura Fidalgo on vocals, Ivan Orellana and Kevin Lynch on guitar, Charlie Scott on bass, and Corey Denham on percussion. Special shoutout to our amazing videographer Mark Knobill!

2025 Policy Survey

We’re reviewing how missed and cancelled lessons are handled, including teacher absences and our summer policy. This survey is anonymous and takes about 5 minutes. Your input will directly inform future policy. Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback!

Take Survey Here

Free Classes This Month

Music Producers Meet Up - Friday November 14th

The Sunburst Producers Meet-Up is a free monthly gathering hosted by our instructor Charlie Scott for teen producers ages 14 and up to share their works in progress and receive feedback from peers. This group meets on the second Friday of every month from 7–9pm.

Piano Club - Friday, November 14th

Piano Club will meet one week early this month due to the holiday break. Join Jaime Cohen for class on 11/14 for lots of piano fun and games. Piano Club is a great opportunity for students to build music theory skills, play interactive games like Music Jeopardy, and gain performance experience.

Age Groups

Ages 5–7 from 5:30–6:15pm
Ages 8+ from 6:15–7pm

Wheel Of Referrals

Refer your friends to Sunburst and spin our IRL Wheel of Referrals! You can win great prizes like merch, local gift cards, and more. Every spinner is also entered for a shot at our Grand Prize, with the winner announced at our Winter Recitals. This season's grand prize is a $150 Sunburst gift card!

Instructor Updates

Staff Spotlight: Meet Holden Akers-Toler!

Holden has been sharing his love for music through private instruction for more than 14 years, teaching drum set, percussion, piano, guitar, ukulele, and bass to students ranging from age 5 to adult. His teaching philosophy centers on helping students develop a positive and lasting relationship with music by emphasizing fun, success, and strong musicianship.

A proud graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College, he earned his Bachelor of Music Education degree, Summa Cum Laude, before continuing his studies at North Carolina Central University, where he received his Master of Music in Jazz Studies. Before joining our team, he served as Lead Instructor at Notasium, a music school in Durham, NC, where he taught, developed curriculum, and co-authored the Note-Making method book series. In 2024, he also had the honor of serving as the Instrumental Music Instructor for the West Virginia Governor’s School for the Arts.

We’re thrilled to have him on our team. His passion, creativity, and commitment to music education continue to inspire both students and staff alike!

Goodbye to Juanita Leal!

We have a bittersweet announcement to share with our Sunburst community. Our talented voice instructor, Juanita Leal, left Sunburst at the end of October to continue her studies at Duquesne University and pursue exciting professional singing opportunities.

Please join us in wishing Juanita the very best as she begins this exciting new chapter!

Thanks for reading!

Let us know if you have any questions, comments, etc. Thanks as always for being a part of the Sunburst Community!

Best Wishes,

–Sunburst Team

< Older Post

Winter Recitals are Around the Corner!

October 29, 2025

Signups for our 2025 Winter Recitals are now open! We’re inviting all students to take part in this special event. If it’s your first recital, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know. Learn more about our 2025 Winter Recitals here!

Sunburst News - October 2025

October 1, 2025

Catch up on Sunburst’s latest news: Free trial lessons this month, Halloween festivities, free music classes, and upcoming concerts!

Sunburst News - September 2025

September 1, 2025

Catch up on Sunburst’s latest news: The Sunburst Band Program, Music Together classes, community drum circles, free music classes, new instructors, and upcoming concerts!

Sunburst News - August 2025

August 1, 2025

Catch up on Sunburst’s latest news: All Together Now Music Festival, the Sunburst Band Program, community drum circles, free music classes, new staff members, and upcoming events!

5 Reasons to Start Playing in a Band

July 30, 2025

As summer break comes to a close, we’re gearing up for the next term of the Sunburst Band Program and would love to see some new faces this fall. Playing in a band is one of the best ways to progress as a musician, so we put together a list of five reasons why we encourage our students to seek out opportunities to play in groups—whether it's starting a band or jamming with a couple of friends. Progress Your rhythm, timing, and listening skills improve quickly when you start playing in a band or group setting. While private lessons and solo practice are essential pieces of the puzzle, playing with others introduces new variables—like tempo changes, dynamics, and coordination—that challenge you to stay in sync with your bandmates and adapt to each other. We’ve seen so many students level up after just a couple months in the Sunburst Band Program–the progress happens fast! Friends and Connections We love watching our students and their families become friends and our band program has been a natural starting point for many of those relationships. Some of our current bands have stayed together for years, and it's awesome to see them hang out outside of lessons and support each other at shows. Plus, one of the best ways to get gigs is through connections with other musicians! Motivation Playing in a band is super motivating because you're part of a group working toward an exciting shared goal. Whether you're learning a new song, building a set list, or getting ready for a show, the process becomes more exciting and rewarding when you're making music you love with people you enjoy being around. That shared energy turns practice into something much more fun and meaningful. Performing Performing can be nerve-wracking, but it gets easier the more you do it, and being on stage with your friends makes it less scary. We love seeing how our students' stage presence and confidence grow with each performance—it’s one of our favorite parts of being teachers! As we mentioned, shows are a great place to make connections with musicians who you’d like to collaborate with in the future. Simply put, playing more shows leads to playing more shows. Creative Outlet Music is a powerful tool for expression, and it’s important to have outlets for that at any age! Life is very fast paced for many of us, and it can be tough to pause and do the things you enjoy. Band practice can be a consistent anchor in your week—something you can rely on for connection, processing, and creating with your bandmates. As corny as it sounds, playing music is good for your spirit! If you’d like to know more about the Sunburst Band Program, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us for more information. We also recommend talking with your private lessons instructor so that they’re aware and can help you prepare.