About Miona
Miona, a talented music instructor, offers piano, ukulele, and violin lessons to students starting from age 6 to adults. With a passion for making music fun and accessible, she believes in the power of music as a universal language. Miona's teaching philosophy revolves around finding joy and meaning in music beyond just the technical aspects. Based in Winnipeg, she provides flexible learning options, including in-home, in-studio, and online lessons, catering to the diverse needs of her students.
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Music has always been a part of my life, starting from singing at family gatherings, to playing violin and viola duets with my sister, and sight reading chamber music repertoire with friends during our weekend hangouts. I believe that music is a fundamental part of our lives, and that it's always present, even when we don't notice it. With that in mind, I believe that being a music teacher is a very important job that comes with great responsibilities. In my teaching, I pass on my love of music through teaching my students to search for meaning and passion beyond the technical requirements. My goal is for my students to know that music can be used as a tool to bring people together, and achieve a common goal. Music is fun, healing, and should be used as a universal language across physical and imagined borders.
Name: Miona (Full name will be provided upon registration)
Age: 23
Gender: female
I attended University of Manitoba and earned a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance with distinction, which included solo training, chamber music, as well as orchestral studies. I studied with Oleg Pokhanovski as my primary violin instructor. I started playing violin and piano at the age of eight in Cuprija, Serbia. I attended the School for Musically Gifted Children, which is one of the few music schools in the world tailored to professional music training. My violin and piano teachers trained in Germany and Russia, and were both detail oriented and had very high standards for their students. I moved to Winnipeg, Canada in 2015, and discovered the art of jazz by participating in high school music groups. While discovering jazz and learning how to improvise, I also learned how to implement the same level of fun, creativity, and playfulness in my classical training and performances.
I am the recipient of the First Prize at the International Music Competition in honour of Johannes Brahms in 2022. I was also fortunate to receive the Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music Scholarship in 2019,2020,2021, and 2022. I received the Val Simanavicious Memorial Scholarship in 2020, 2021, and 2022. In 2020 and 2021, I received the Richard and Kathleen Dunlop Litch Music Award as well as the Allan McKean Memorial Scholarship. In 2018, I received the Marlene Stephen Memorial Leadership Award, which is given to one high school music student per year by the Manitoba Band Association. 2018 was also the year I was fortunate enough to be recognized as an outstanding soloist by the Essentially Ellington Jazz Festival at the Lincoln Centre in New York City.
Aside from my formal training, I have also attended the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in the summer of 2022, which included a five week training academy with chamber music and orchestral studies with some of the top music educators in Canada, and a two week long tour, including performances in Kingston, Toronto, Quebec City, Montreal, and Ottawa. Getting to spend this time with talented young musicians from all around Canada was inspiring and it's an experience I will never forget. Aside from my experience in classical music, I often perform with local musicians in the city. The performances range from rock to folk, as well as country music. This is something I enjoy a lot and believe is an important part of my life. This is where I am able to put my skills and experience to use in a more casual setting. Being born in Serbia, I am also very passionate about staying connected to my roots through playing and exploring traditional Serbian music.
Croatian
English
Serbian
Rates and Studio Policies
Registration Fee: $25.00 (One-time lifetime registration fee may be used by all family members)
Rates for instruction:
30 minute private lesson: $39.00
45 minute private lesson: $49.00
60 minute private lesson: $59.00
Travel charge: additional $15.00 per visit (for lessons in a client's home as opposed to my studio)
1. Cancellation Policy
Lessons not cancelled or rescheduled with at least 24 hours notice are billable to the client and payable to the teacher. This does not of course apply to travel fees unless the notice is effectively given at the door and the teacher has travelled to the location.
2. Cessation (quitting) Policy
A client must provide a 2 lesson notice period to stop lessons. So a weekly student needs to give 2 weeks of notice, a biweekly student works out to 3 weeks notice and a twice weekly student works out to a week of notice.
3. Illness Policy
Lessons cancelled due to illness or extraordinary circumstances with less than 24 hours notice remain billable to the client and payable to the teacher.
BAH teachers are encouraged to offer a make-up lesson at a future date in the interest of client relations and general goodwill. This only makes sense as teaching a student with the flu for example, will ruin the rest of your week's employment.
No more than 2 lessons may be made up due to illness within a 60 day period.
4. Rescheduling Policy
Any lesson can be cancelled or rescheduled with at least 24 hours notice.
Summer Vacation and Extended Absence Policy
Clients may schedule longer absences for trips etc. 24 hours notice is required.
It is normal and typical for students and about 20% of our teachers to schedule a break in the summer. We do not enforce a notice period (see cessation of lessons) at the end of a long summer break.
5. Evaluation Period
There are no free trial lessons with Beethoven at Home but we do offer a 2 lesson evaluation period where it is easy to try out a teacher. There are no free lessons during the evaluation period and clients may choose to discontinue the lessons at any time by providing the required 24 hours notice. After the student's 3rd lesson the required 2 lesson notice period will apply (see cessation of lessons above).
Lessons in your home
Miona is available to teach in your home if you are located in the following areas
Online lessons
Miona can provide online instruction. While other platforms are possible BAH strongly recommends the use of the Zoom video conferencing platform as it is optimized for music lessons and audio quality.