Today we’d like to introduce you to Rick Thacker.
Rick, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
The violin has been a part of my life since starting private lessons at age three. I later added the viola, and have taught both for fifteen years…
Ensemble playing has also been a big part of my musical journey, and I have served in many capacities; most notably as Concertmaster for the Advanced Ensemble at Chicago School of Violin Making. In addition, I currently conduct multiple string ensembles of various abilities. I have received teacher training in the Suzuki Method and other pedagogy courses.
My love for stringed instruments eventually consummated with a diploma from the Chicago School of Violin Making. I have built several fine instruments, including the violin I gave to my wife, Elizabeth (also a violin teacher), on our wedding day. I have apprenticed with members of the prestigious American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers (AFVBM), and also with Violin Society of America (VSA) medal-winning luthiers.
The passion of both Elizabeth and mine is to “Share Joy through Music” by providing the best in instruments and music education to our community. Plum Grove is based around the belief that anyone and everyone can enjoy the gift of music.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The hardest part for me is taking the time to work on your business instead of just in your business. For me this meant scaling back my teaching to focus on leading my team. This was hard at first (and still is), but I know that many more students are being helped than I could have ever served on my own.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Plum Grove Music – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
At Plum Grove, we provide Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland with the most remarkable experience in musical instruments and education.
Our lesson program is second to none, and very unique in the fact that we have a true teaching “team”. By this I mean that we hire our teachers as employees rather than independent contractors. This allows us to set standards for uniform, appearance, training, and curriculum. We have a unified front to present to our students, rather than each teacher doing his or her own thing. We have studio-wide competitions, practice incentives, and themed concerts. Last May, we had a Disney-themed concert at a large venue with 500 people in the audience. All of the students had character costumes, and all the music was themed. We even had a guest artist from the Chicago Lyric Opera perform with us! These aspects make us the most recommended place to take lessons in our area.
Our student rental instruments are also the best in the business. Our philosophy is to have our customers grow into their instruments rather than grow out of them. For this reason, you will not find typical student-grade instruments in our store. All of our string instruments are handcrafted, and set up in our shop by professional violin makers. We only use professional level materials on even our smallest size instruments. Our band instruments are also intermediate or advanced grade not entry-level. For example, our standard rental trumpet is a silver trumpet. These sound much better, make it easier to hit high notes, and give that “Wow!” effect when the student pops open the case for the first time.
As music teachers and players ourselves, our goal is to get fantastic, high-quality instruments into the hands of students so that they can experience the wonderful world of music without a typical “student-quality” instrument to frustrate them.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We have been focusing more on our school music business since January 2015. At that time, we serviced three schools on a weekly basis, and did occasional business with three others for a total of six. Currently, we are making weekly service visits to 14 schools, and are forging relationships with nine new schools.
We are also planning to host a 5k to raise money and awareness for the Adaptive Music Project. We have had many special needs students at Plum Grove throughout the years, and we feel that AMP is at the cutting edge of bringing the joy of music to those who never thought it possible. http://cincinnatiadaptivemusiccamp.org
Contact Info:
- Address: 1650 E. 181st Ave.,
Hebron, IN 46341 - Website: https://plumgrovemusic.com
- Phone: 219.696.5401
- Email: rick@plumgrovemusic.com
Image Credit:
Jack McDonnell
Anthony Wonaitis
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