Viola da Gamba Society of America

The Private Lesson Subsidy is a program that subsidizes private viol lessons for VdGSA members who need financial assistance to be able to afford them. It reimburses students $40 per lesson for up to nine private lessons in a 12-month period with a teaching member of the VdGSA. This program is designed to enable viol players to be able to afford the expense of private lessons, which can improve consort and solo playing skills and facilitate more beautiful music on the instrument we love. Details and application are below.

 

Guidelines

• The student is a VdGSA member who applies for and is accepted into the Private Lesson Subsidy Program. 

• The teacher is a teaching member of the VdGSA. Teaching members are listed both by name and by geographic region in the directory. Usually, but not always, the student will take all nine lessons from the same teacher. We encourage students to seek out a local teacher for in-person lessons whenever possible, but students may take online lessons when it is best for them. There is a partial list of teachers willing to teach online. Please also check the directory for an updated list of those who can teach online and/or check with the teacher. 

• Applications are taken on a rolling basis and there is no deadline to apply.  They will be reviewed within about two weeks of submission until the program is fully subscribed. The program coordinator will send an acceptance by email, which generally will be effective as of the date of the application. 

• The student may take up to nine lessons during the 12-month period, and the VdGSA will reimburse the student $40 per lesson. The student will pay the teacher their going rate directly and then submit evidence of payment via the website; the processing should take a month or less.  The requests for reimbursement should be submitted within the 12-month period if at all possible.

• Students may reapply for the Private Lesson Subsidy after the end of the 12-month period.  Renewal is not guaranteed.