(Hermitage, PA) An important aspect of music is that it “transcends age,” says a former piano teacher who will instruct a noncredit “BC3 Community Orchestra” class debuting in February at Butler County Community College’s additional location in Hermitage.
“It doesn’t matter if you are 20 or if you are 50, every musician is good at something,” Julianne Brown says. “Every musician is good at rhythm. Every musician is good at expression.”
Brown is seeking musicians such as those who have played brass, woodwind, percussion and string instruments and as long ago as junior high school for the “BC3 Community Orchestra” class, which will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays from Feb. 21 to April 18 at BC3 @ LindenPointe, 3182 Innovation Way, Hermitage.
“A lot of it comes back to you,” Brown said. “You’re rusty because you haven’t done it for so long. Anyone who has studied for three or more years, especially if they were in their high school band or high school orchestra, it takes some time to get all that going.
“But once they get those musical juices flowing, everybody levels out. Everyone is at the same skill level.”
Brown, a resident of the Boardman, Ohio, area, earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts with a concentration in music from the University of Nebraska.
“What I’m excited about with this course is that the students are adult learners. There’s a lot more flexibility. I want people to come and make friends and be social and be musical.”
Nearly 40 classes in Lawrence, Mercer counties
She began formal piano instruction at age 7, played bells, chimes and xylophone in the concert band at Liberty High School near Youngstown, taught music classes as a substitute teacher in Texas and held private piano lessons for 10 years.
“What I’m excited about with this course is that the students are adult learners,” Brown said. “There’s a lot more flexibility. I want people to come and make friends and be social and be musical.”
Musicians in the “BC3 Community Orchestra” class may perform works by Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Russian composer Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, Spanish composer Enrique Granados and American composer Scott Joplin, Brown said.
Tuition for the “BC3 Community Orchestra” class is $65.
Nearly 40 noncredit classes are scheduled in Lawrence and Mercer counties through June 26, said Paul Lucas, director of BC3’s Lifelong Learning. More than a dozen are new, many last one session and the cost of many begins at $29, Lucas said.
Topics of classes include arts and crafts, computers and software, painting, personal development and special interests.
Among new classes this spring are “Easter Décor Design” and “How to Write a Short Story,” to be held at BC3 @ LindenPointe; and “Community Choir” and “Trip Planning: Long Weekend Adventure” to be held at BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing, 2849 W. State St., New Castle.
BC3’s 2022 Lifelong Learning classes filled nearly 1,700 seats in Butler, Lawrence and Mercer counties and online, Lucas said.
Kayak in New Castle in June
A free “Veterans Suicide: Suicide Prevention is Everybody’s Business” will be held April 4 online. The three-hour noncredit class, which begins at 6 p.m., has been offered by BC3’s Lifelong Learning division since September 2020.
Classes end June 25 with “Recreational River Kayaking” on the Mahoning River in New Castle.
BC3’s Lifelong Learning classes are for those ages 18 or older unless otherwise noted, Lucas said.
For more information or to register, visit bc3.edu/lifelong.
