Collaboration is the key to making beautiful music at Victorville's Alisa’s Piano Studio

When Alisa Aslanyan opened her Victorville piano studio in 1998, she was the married mother of two children: a 5-year-old son, Vahan, and a 2-year-old daughter, Varsenik.

To keep the kids nearby while she taught, Alisa set up a little room for them in the back of the studio. The space was designed to entertain two small children, with a television set and plenty of toys.

But even as a toddler, Varsenik – nicknamed Varsi – often came out and sat on her mother’s lap while she taught.

“She would sit on my lap, and she would be quietly watching the students’ fingers,” Alisa Aslanyan said. “After they left, she would mimic them.”

Neither knew it then, but they were already laying the groundwork for a future partnership.

Celebrating a landmark achievement

Alisa’s Piano Studio celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. Some students have studied there for more than 10 years. Some have even continued learning from her remotely after moving to places as far-flung as Chicago, Idaho, and Alaska.

Parents praise her for her ability to work with special needs students. But in the classroom, all students are treated equally.

“She’s very successful at keeping kids anchored, keeping them focused,” said Marvin Morton of Victorville, whose 17-year-old daughter has studied with Alisa since she was 3.

At 2 years old, Alisa’s daughter Varsi could imitate Alisa’s students on simple assignments. By 3, she could play a full version of a Beethoven piece. However, the parents of Alisa’s students were even more impressed by how she imitated her mother.

When Alisa left the room for a bathroom break, she would tell Varsi she was in charge and imitate her mother’s instructions and gestures. When Varsi was 4, one of the parents asked what she wanted to be when she grew up.

Her response? A piano teacher.

When Varsi went to college, she almost changed her mind. She spent a grueling four years at Chapman University earning her degree in Piano Performance – a course that takes six to seven years at many schools.

Her experience giving piano lessons at students’ homes wasn’t rewarding, and she struggled to make ends meet.

So, Alisa invited her daughter to come back home and help her teach while she figured out her next move.

Then COVID-19 hit.

With the pandemic, the Aslanyans had to adapt to teaching online. It was a difficult time for teachers, parents, and children alike. Families with new students would come to the driveway to meet their teachers from a distance so they had some semblance of face-to-face contact.

Worst of all, Jack Aslanyan – Alisa’s husband and Varsi’s father – died of COVID-19 in August of 2020. The loss was devastating, they said.

Learning to live with grief

Alisa stepped back from teaching briefly to process her grief while Vahan and Varsi taught the students. Alisa said she remains eternally grateful to her students and their families for the patience and compassion they showed.

“The tremendous amount of support that we received from our students was priceless,” she said. “I cannot even express it. They didn’t really know each other, but all the parents came together to support us. They were so understanding.”

“I know their family went through a lot with Jack’s passing,” Marvin Morton said. “They managed to rally together and endure.”

“They were an amazing couple,” said Liliana Viera of Apple Valley, who has six children who’ve studied at the studio, two of them with special needs. “Miss Alisa is one of the strongest people I have ever known in my life. [Our classes] never really stopped meeting – after just a few weeks, she was going back to doing what she knew.”

By the time the pandemic eased, more challenges lay ahead. Most of the children were uncommunicative, with social anxiety after learning remotely for so long.

Varsi suggested trying group lessons, rather than the traditional one-on-one instruction, “to see if they’d start talking to each other rather than us.”

“When Varsi came up with that idea I was scared – remember, I’m old-school,” Alisa said. “I was the brakes, she was the driver. She said, ‘Mom, this is the time.’ We literally emptied the room and started brand new. Frida,y came, and we took down the blinds, put up new blinds, and painted.”

By the beginning of the new week, eight full-size electronic keyboards were ready and waiting in the classroom. The Aslanyans began holding lessons in groups of eight children – four students for each of them. In the new group format, each student wears headphones, with corresponding headphones for the teachers to monitor the students individually.

It worked.

“The kids would come in scared and they would leave happy because there were other kids there,” Varsi said.

“They get the best of two worlds,” Alisa said. “For 55 minutes, all of them get our individual attention.”

Creating a feeling of community

Even better, the children quickly learn to collaborate. The Aslanyans encourage a feeling of community rather than competition. If one student is struggling, others step in to help. And students at a similar skill level are paired up to work together on duets.

“Kids love duets,” Alisa said. “Once they understand how fun it is, they’re giggling and having a good time. They’re being musicians, and they’re being kids.”

For Alisa, partnering with her daughter is a dream come true. Together, they blend Alisa’s traditional background with modern ideas and musical styles from Varsi. Their students learn music history, from early baroque to the rock music performed on cello on the “Wednesday” television series.

“We have such a great dual dynamic,” Alisa said.

They formalized their partnership when they became a corporation last JanuaInd. In mid-January of this year, they branched out to open a second studio in Rancho Cucamonga, where they will continue teaching students to work together and support each other.

“We want to make sure these kids know each other,” Alisa said. “You never build your life alone. You build your life with support from friends and family and community.”

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Victorville's Alisa’s Piano Studio celebrates 25 years of making music